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NJ forms taskforce to aid 'courageous' Afghan refugee arrival
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TRENTON, N.J. — (WCBS 880) In the aftermath of the deadly terrorist attack at Kabul airport Thursday that killed at least 60 Afghans and 13 U.S. troops, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is making good on his promise to bring in Afghan refugees "imminently" announcing the formation of a task force to assist their transition into the Garden State. "As Afghan refugees arrive at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, we must act to ensure that the State is prepared to adequately receive and assist these individuals that courageously assisted our country in the War on Terror,” Murphy said. “Our newly established task force will oversee efforts to welcome refugees and their families to their new lives in the United States and New Jersey. I have full trust and confidence in the Adjutant General to lead this task force in coordinating our response to the ongoing arrival of refugees to our state.” The task force will be headed by Adjutant General and Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs Brigadier General Dr. Lisa J. Hou, a veteran of the Afghanistan War where she served as a field surgeon and a sole medical provider on an Afghanistan National Army base. "The Task Force stands ready to support our mission partners,” Hou said. "We recognize the sacrifice of our Afghan allies and American and NATO service members these past 20 years. We pledge every effort to alleviate the human tragedy unfolding in Afghanistan." The Chief of Staff to the Governor, the Chief Counsel to the Governor, the Chief Policy Advisor to the Governor, the Executive Director of the Governor’s Disaster Recovery Office, and the Commissioners from other Departments will serve on the commission as well. Along with welcoming incoming Afghan refugees, the task force will also provide medical support as well as coordinate communications between the state and federal government on refugee relocation as well as other key responsibilities. I just signed an Executive Order establishing the Task Force on Afghan Refugee Assistance – overseeing efforts to welcome refugees and their families to their new lives in the United States and New Jersey.
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Organization Established
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Daily Sabah
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Elaine Thompson-Herah broke Florence Griffith Joyner’s 33-year-old Olympic record in the women’s 100 meters, pointing at the scoreboard even before crossing the line in 10.61 seconds Saturday to defend her title and lead a Jamaican sweep of the medals.
Griffith Joyner set the old record of 10.62 at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
Thompson-Herah beat her top rival, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, by .13 seconds. Shericka Jackson, who moved to the shorter sprints for the Tokyo Olympics, won bronze in 10.76. This had been shaping up as a fast race for days, if not months. In June, Fraser-Pryce ran the fourth-fastest time in history at 10.63 seconds.
And when the sprinters arrived in Japan, they discovered a fast track at Olympic Stadium. In the semifinals earlier Saturday, the Jamaicans all cracked 10.8 to get on the list of the 10 best times in Olympic history. Then, it was Thompson-Herah’s turn to make history. Flo Jo’s records are older than virtually every sprinter in the women’s game, save Fraser-Pryce, who was born about 18 months before the American set the marks.
Griffith Joyner’s world record, the 10.49, is still out there, and no other woman has ever broke 10.6. Fraser-Pryce came in thinking it could be her, and when she crossed the line in second, she flashed a look of disbelief, then stood stone-faced with her hands on her hips looking at the scoreboard. Thompson-Herah was looking left toward the clock as she approached the line. She was pointing even before she got there, conjuring memories of Jamaican great Usain Bolt, who celebrated with 10 meters to go when he broke the men's world record in Beijing at the 2008 Games
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Çerezler, web-sitelerinin, kullanıcıların deneyimlerini daha verimli hale getirmek amacıyla kullandığı küçük metin dosyalarıdır.Yasalara göre, bu sitenin işletilmesi için kesinlikle gerekli olan çerezleri cihazınıza yerleştirebiliyoruz. Diğer çerez türleri için sizden izin almamız gerekiyor.Bu site farklı çerez türleri kullanmaktadır. Bazı çerezler, sayfalarımızda yer alan üçüncü şahıs hizmetleri tarafından yerleştirilir.Web sitemizde Çerez Beyanından kabulünüzü dilediğiniz zaman değiştirebilir veya geri çekebilirsiniz.Kim olduğumuz, bizimle nasıl iletişime geçebileceğiniz ve kişisel verilerinizi nasıl kullandığımız hakkında daha fazla bilgiyi Gizlilik Politikamızda öğrenebilirsiniz.
İzniniz aşağıdaki alanlar için geçerlidir: www.dailysabah.com
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Please
click to read our informative text prepared pursuant to the Law on the Protection of Personal Data No. 6698 and to get information about the
cookies
used on our website in accordance with the relevant legislation.
6698 sayılı Kişisel Verilerin Korunması Kanunu uyarınca hazırlanmış aydınlatma metnimizi okumak ve sitemizde ilgili mevzuata uygun olarak kullanılan
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Break historical records
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AG: Investigation clears two Rochester police officers who shot and killed Mark Gaskill
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Chief Herriott-Sullivan says officers fired nine shots after they saw a man “brandishing” a handgun May 14. The man was struck and died at the scene.
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
The state Attorney General's Office investigation cleared the two Rochester police officers who shot and killed 28-year-old Mark Gaskill on May 14 on Glasser Street, according to a report released Friday afternoon.
The Office of Special Investigation determined the actions of Officers Blake Langdon and Donald Flood Jr. "did not rise to the level of criminal conduct" after reviewing body-worn camera footage, street surveillance video, witness interviews and other evidence, the office said in a press release.
Flood fired seven shots and Langdon shot four times, the report stated. Gaskill, who didn't fire any shots, was struck six times. Officers repeatedly shouted, "Show me your hands!" as Gaskill attempted to get out of the vehicle's back seat.
Police did find a loaded handgun near Gaskill's right hand, according to the report.
Both Flood and Langdon were placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation. The status of that investigation remains unknown.
Attorney General Letitia James said her office remains committed to "fair and thorough investigations." It is still reviewing the death of Timothy Flowers , who was shot and kileld by RPD SWAT officers back in June.
More: Outcome of AG's investigation of two fatal shootings by RPD likely to be months away
"...OSI determined that the officers involved were not unjustified in their use of deadly force, as the law requires for bringing criminal charges," James said in a release. "Despite the conclusive evidence in this case, I know Mr. Gaskill’s family is still coping with the loss of a loved one, and I offer my heartfelt condolences to the Gaskill family.”
In the video footage released from the fatal shooting, RPD obscured the police officers' faces and their embedded identifying information, which can be used to point back to badge numbers. Previous body camera footage RPD released to the public had no such redactions.
The footage reveals a situation that escalated in seconds and left many questions unanswered, including whether the man in the backseat fired shots at police officers.
Mayor James Smith said, along with the community, they just became away of the completed investigation Friday afternoon.
"The administration will continue to work with the NYS Attorney General’s Office to ensure transparency for the public," Smith said in a statement.
Caution: Body-worn camera footage below contains graphic content.
Glasser St. fatal shooting: Rochester police body cam footage
Rochester police released 42 minutes of body camera footage after officers shot and killed a man on Glasser Street on May 14, 2021.
Provided footage, Rochester Police Department
Timeline of events
The bodycam video shows the events that took place after Flood and Langdon pulled over a car on Glasser Street. Police say they were responding to the area because of a ShotSpotter report of gun fire near 523 Lyell Ave. The time code of the video presents the moments between 4:24 a.m. and 4:51 a.m. May 14.
The officers identified a car leaving the scene by utilizing surveillance footage, according to a release.
Flood and Langdon eventually pulled over the vehicle and found Gaskill in the back seat. Another passenger, the girlfriend of the driver, tells officers that she's pregnant and they're en route to the hospital. Gaskill was asked for identification and provided a fake identity and date of birth, officers reported.
Officers tried to speak with Gaskill and attempted to open the door, but "the two officers allegedly saw Mr. Gaskill reach to the right side of his waistband and draw a gun with his right hand," according to a release from the attorney general.
Bodycam footage showed the officers repeatedly told Gaskill to drop the gun. However, the officers retreated and "Gaskill allegedly opened the rear passenger-side door, and, as he appeared to get out of the car, the officers ordered him to show his hands, and then discharged 11 shots, striking Mr. Gaskill six times."
Flood was 10-15 feet away from Gaskill when he initially opened fire, and 25-30 feet away from Gaskill and the vehicle as Flood continued to retreat, the report stated. Langdon, meanwhile, was 20 feet away from Gaskill.
Police found a loaded semi-automatic pistol near Gaskill's right hand inside the vehicle, the report said.
Gaskill was in the car for roughly six minutes after he was shot before police approached. The woman seated in the front seat wasn't struck. Four additional officers arrived on scene and approached the vehicle behind a protective ballistics shield.
An ambulance arrived 11 minutes after Flood's last shot, the report said, and Gaskill was declared dead at 4:50 a.m.
Further analysis determined the recovered gun had been used earlier in the shots-fired incident detected by ShotSpotter.
Both Flood and Langdon were jointly interviewed by RPD and attorney general investigators.
Officers cleared
After Eric Garner died in New York police custody in 2014, then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order that made the state attorney general a special prosecutor in police-involved civilian deaths. In order for the AG to investigate, there had to be a question of whether the person was armed and dangerous.
Under the provisions of 70-B section, it now doesn't matter if a civilian killed by police was armed or not. The attorney general is immediately able to assert jurisdiction over all police-involved deaths. The new law codified this process and expanded the role of the attorney general.
In order to file charges against the officers, the Office of Special Investigation needed to figure out if officers were justified in their use of deadly, physical force. Investigators then needed to determine whether or not Gaskill "was about to use deadly, physical force, was not reasonable or, alternatively, that the officers could have avoided using deadly, physical force by retreating with complete safety to themselves and others," according to a release.
Investigators, however, couldn't meet that burden.
The report stated the officers might have been able to retreat to ensure their own safety, but there is "no evidence either officer knew he could do so with complete safety to others," including the two other occupants of the vehicle and other officers at the scene.
"In sum, there is no evidence the officers could have avoided the use of deadly physical force by retreating, because there is no evidence that they knew they could retreat with complete safety to themselves and others," the report concluded.
Contact Will Cleveland at wcleveland@gannett.com . Follow him on Twitter @willcleveland13 . Thanks to our subscribers for supporting quality local journalism. If you aren’t a subscriber, please consider a digital subscription.
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Famous Person - Commit Crime - Investigate
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Brazil dam collapse death toll rises to 60, hundreds still missing
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Recurring gifts of $11/month (or just $130/year) made before Nov. 30 will help us unlock a matching gift of $67,000. Will you join us in our effort to bring you news from the world every day? Rescue crew work in a dam owned by Brazilian miner Vale SA that burst, in Brumadinho, Brazil Jan. 25, 2019. Washington Alves/Reuters Grief over the hundreds of Brazilians feared killed in last week's mining disaster has quickly hardened into anger as victims' families and politicians say iron ore miner Vale SA and regulators have learned nothing from the recent past. By Monday, firefighters in the state of Minas Gerais had confirmed 60 people dead in Friday's disaster, in which a tailings dam broke sending a torrent of sludge into the miner's offices and the town of Brumadinho. Nearly 300 other people are unaccounted for, and officials said it was unlikely that any would be found alive. Members of rescue team carry a body recovered after a tailings dam owned by Brazilian mining company Vale SA collapsed, in Brumadinho, Brazil Jan. 27, 2019. Adriano Machado/Reuters Shares of Vale, the world's largest iron ore and nickel producer, plummeted 21.5 percent in Monday trading on the Sao Paulo stock exchange, erasing $16 billion in market cap. Related: The Amazon used to be a hedge against climate change. Those days may be over. Brazil's top prosecutor, Raquel Dodge, said the company should be held strongly responsible and criminally prosecuted. Executives could also be personally held responsible, she said. Brazil's Vice President Hamilton Mourao, who is acting president since Monday morning when Jair Bolsonaro underwent surgery, also said the government needs to punish those responsible for the dam disaster. Members of a rescue team search for victims after a tailings dam owned by Brazilian mining company Vale SA collapsed, in Brumadinho, Brazil Jan. 28, 2019. Adriano Machado/Reuters In a tweet, Brazilian Senator Renan Calheiros asked Justice Minister Sergio Moro "how many people should die before federal police changes Vale management, before key evidence disappears." Moro is a previous judge in charge of Brazil's largest-ever corruption probe. One of Vale's lawyers, Sergio Bermudes, told newspaper Folha de S. Paulo that the executives should not leave the company and that Calheiros was trying to profit politically from the tragedy. Related: For illegal loggers in the Brazilian Amazon, 'there is no fear of being punished' Vale Chief Executive Fabio Schvartsman said during a visit to Brumadinho on Sunday that facilities there were built to code and equipment had shown the dam was stable two weeks earlier. The disaster at the Corrego do Feijao mine occurred less than four years after a dam collapsed at a nearby mine run by Samarco Mineracao SA, a joint venture by Vale and BHP Billiton, killing 19 and filling a major river with toxic sludge. A member of rescue team reacts, upon returning from the mission, after a tailings dam owned by Brazilian mining company Vale SA collapsed, in Brumadinho, Brazil Jan. 27, 2019. Adriano Machado/Reuters While the 2015 Samarco disaster dumped about five times more mining waste, Friday's dam break was far deadlier, as the wall of mud hit Vale's local offices, including a crowded cafeteria, and tore through a populated area downhill. "The cafeteria was in a risky area," Renato Simao de Oliveiras, 32, said while searching for his twin brother, a Vale employee, at an emergency response station. Related: A 'Third Way' to save the Amazon: make trees more valuable "Just to save money, even if it meant losing the little guy... These businessmen, they only think about themselves," said Oliveiras. As search efforts continued on Monday, firefighters laid down wood planks to cross a sea of sludge that is hundreds of meters wide in places, to reach a bus in search of bodies inside. Villagers discovered the bus as they tried to rescue a nearby cow stuck in the mud. An ox is seen on mud after a tailings dam owned by Brazilian miner Vale SA burst, in Brumadinho, Brazil Jan. 27, 2019. Adriano Machado/Reuters Longtime resident Ademir Rogerio cried as he surveyed the mud where Vale's facilities once stood on the edge of town. "The world is over for us," he said. "Vale is the top mining company in the world. If this could happen here, imagine what would happen if it were a smaller miner." Nestor Joseacute de Mury said he lost his nephew and coworkers in the mud. "I've never seen anything like it, it killed everyone," he said. The board of Vale, which has raised its dividends over the last year, suspended all shareholder payouts and executive bonuses late on Sunday, as the disaster put its corporate strategy under scrutiny. "I'm not a mining technician. I followed the technicians' advice and you see what happened. It didn't work," Vale CEO Schvartsman said in a TV interview. "We are 100 percent within all the standards, and that didn't do it." A boy looks at members of rescue team, as they return from the mission, after a tailings dam owned by Brazilian mining company Vale SA collapsed, in Brumadinho, Brazil Jan. 27, 2019. Adriano Machado/Reuters Many wondered if the state of Minas Gerais, named for the mining industry that has shaped its landscape for centuries, should have higher standards. "There are safe ways of mining," said Joao Vitor Xavier, head of the mining and energy commission in the state assembly. "It's just that it diminishes profit margins, so they prefer to do things the cheaper way; and put lives at risk." Related: 'Our wealth is the forest': Indigenous tribes are the last best hope for the Amazon Reaction to the disaster could threaten the plans of Brazil's newly inaugurated president to relax restrictions on the mining industry, including proposals to open up indigenous reservations and large swaths of the Amazon jungle for mining. Indigenous people from the Pataxo Ha-ha-hae tribe look at Paraopeba river, after a tailings dam owned by Brazilian mining company Vale SA collapsed, in Sao Joaquim de Bicas near Brumadinho, Brazil Jan. 25, 2019. Funai/Handout via Reuters Mines and Energy Minister Bento Albuquerque proposed in an interview late on Sunday with newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo that the law should be changed to assign responsibility in cases such as Brumadinho to the people responsible for certifying the safety of mining dams. "Current law does not prevent disasters like the one we saw on Brumadinho," he said. "The model for verifying the state of mining dams will have to be reconsidered. The model isn't good." The ministry did not immediately respond to questions about the interview. German auditor TUV SUD said on Saturday it inspected the dam in September and found all to be in order.
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Mine Collapses
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Too Big to Fail: The Entire Private Sector
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Large parts of financial markets are now being managed by the government. Even if they don’t like it, investors must acknowledge it. By Matt Phillips During the 2008 financial crisis, Wall Street banks and other big financial institutions were deemed “too big to fail.” The crisis unleashed by the pandemic has broadened that elite status to a significant swath of the American private sector. In a bid to soften the coronavirus’s economic blow, the government has stretched its financial safety net wide — from strategically sensitive companies, to entire industries such as energy and airlines, to the market for corporate bonds.
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Financial Crisis
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Woman rushed to hospital after car crashes into church in Salford
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A woman was taken to hospital after a car smashed into a church in Salford . Emergency services were called to the crash in Pendleton Way, near to Salford Shopping Centre, shortly before 8.40am today (Friday, September 24). A woman in her 20s was taken to hospital with back injuries.
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Road Crash
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2010 G20 Toronto summit protests
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Public protesting and demonstrations began one week ahead of the 2010 G20 Toronto summit, which took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on 26−27 June. The protests were for various causes, including poverty and anti-capitalism. Protests mainly consisted of peaceful demonstrations and rallies but also took the form of a riot as a group of protesters using black bloc tactics caused vandalism to several businesses in Downtown Toronto. More than 20,000 police, military, and security personnel were involved in policing the protests, which at its largest numbered 10,000 protesters. [1][2] While there were no deaths, 97 officers and 39 arrestees were injured, and at least 40 shops were vandalised, constituting at least C$750,000 worth of damage. [3][4]
Over 1000 arrests were made, making it the largest mass arrest in Canadian history. [4] In the aftermath of the protests, the Toronto Police Service and the Integrated Security Unit (ISU) of the G20 Toronto summit were heavily criticized for brutality during the arrests and eventually went under public scrutiny by media and human rights activists. There has been legal action in the form of a class action lawsuit towards the Toronto police on behalf of all of those who were arrested despite the Toronto Police's several attempts to stop court proceedings by appealing the case. As of November 10, 2016 The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that it will not hear the Toronto Police Services Board's appeal. As a result, a class action lawsuit was able to proceed on November 25, 2016 towards trial. [2] On August 17, 2020, The Canadian Press announced that the lawsuit had resulted in a $16.5 million settlement. Those arrested were each awarded dollar amounts ranging from $5,000 to $24,700. [5]
RCMP officers, members of the JIG 'Joint Intelligence Group', began approaching activists in February 2010. There were visits to organization offices, meetings, and activists' houses. [6][7] It was later revealed via Freedom of Information requests that "at least 12 undercover officers infiltrated groups" spanning Vancouver, southern Ontario, Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa, in one of the largest-ever such operations internal to Canada. [8][9][10][11][12]
A Royal Bank of Canada branch in Ottawa was firebombed just before dawn on May 18, 2010. [13] The attackers posted video on YouTube showing a large fireball igniting inside the bank. The video then listed the manifesto of a previously unknown group calling itself the FFFC. The message stated that the attack against the bank was because of the growing suffering of Vancouver's poor in the shadow of RBC's major sponsorship of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and Paralympics in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia and claimed these events were held "on stolen indigenous land. "[14]
In addition to social issues and aboriginal land claims, the video claimed the actions were sparked by environmental and deforestation related concerns surrounding the Alberta tar sands projects in "Canada's" prairies, in which the video claims RBC is substantially involved and which G8/G20 decisions furthered. [15] The attackers also stated their intention to be present during the G8 and the G20 Toronto summits the following month. [16]
The projected recurrence of such acts of violence and the escalating rhetoric of anti-summit protest plans caused the G8/G20 Integrated Security Unit (ISU) to increase its security measures. [17][18] The attacks were quickly and widely criticized by the media, politicians, and other protest groups[19][20]
Three suspects were arrested on June 19, 2010; with one, Roger Clement, being convicted in December 2010 while charges against the other two were stayed for lack of evidence although only one of those two faced charges for the arson, while the other's charges were for a separate vandalism of a different RBC ATM. Clement, a 58-year-old retired federal government employee, formerly working for the Canadian International Development Agency, eventually received a 3½ year prison sentence, that included 6 months for vandalism of another RBC branch in February 2010. [21] An undercover police agent who had infiltrated the local activist community was revealed during the fire-bombing trial. [22]
Initial estimates of the damage, immediately following the attack, set the price-tag at around $300,000 and projected that the bank would be closed for several weeks. At the time of Clement's trial, reports stated that the branch was closed for months with total costs of $1,600,000. [15][16][23]
An individual was arrested for vandalism on May 28, after being caught spray-painting anti–G20 slogans on windows and automated teller machines in Downtown Toronto. [24] Two individuals were arrested in London, Ontario after attaching posters to public property encouraging disruption of the G20 summit and canvassing protests. [25]
Key groups which organized early in opposition to the summit included Canadian Labour Congress, Council of Canadians, Greenpeace, Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, Ontario Federation of Labour, Oxfam and the Toronto Community Mobilization Network. [26]
A small rally was conducted on June 17 in the Financial District by Oxfam Canada, urging Canada to end fossil fuel subsidization and take action on world poverty. The rally also spoofed the summit's high security cost. [27]
An anti-poverty protest occurred on June 21, causing traffic congestion. [28] About 100 protesters marched from Allan Gardens on Sherbourne Street and continued on Yonge Street, Dundas Street, and Isabella Street. Police officers on bicycles and military helicopters patrolled the protest; one arrest was made. [28] A few protesters also attempted to occupy an Esso gas station, claiming corporations like Esso "have caused irreparable damage all over the world. "[29] Other protester concerns were the Arab–Israeli conflict, capitalism, and the G8 and G20 summits. [28] The protest was led by a Guelph-based group called Sense of Security, an anti-poverty group that was also supported by the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty. [29]
The following day, about 200 people from Toronto's gay community marched through downtown attempting to raise awareness on homosexual rights. [30] Protesters chanted, "We're queer, we're fabulous, we're against the G20. "[31] The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) labelled the protests as "peaceful" overall. [32]
The first sizable G20 protest, of about 1000 people, took place on June 24 with First Nations groups and supporters from across Canada demanding respect for treaty rights from the government. [33] Demonstrations moved from Queen's Park to the Toronto Eaton Centre along University Avenue and Queen Street West. Concerns of protesters were Canada's failure to sign the United Nations' Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the fact that no aboriginal chiefs were invited to the summits. [34]
Also on June 24, activist Jaggi Singh, spokesperson for the group No One Is Illegal, suggested in a news conference that some protesters intended to attempt to breach the security fence in the coming days. [35][36]
A larger protest was scheduled for June 25 in Toronto, the day the 36th G8 summit began in Huntsville, Ontario. Protesters attempted to enter the security zone, but were later forced to return by police officers. By evening, protesters set up a tent city at Allan Gardens and stayed overnight to resume protests the following day, the opening of the G20 summit. [37]
As the G20 leaders arrived in Toronto after the G8 summit in Huntsville, Ontario wrapped up, a large group comprising as many as 10,000 people protested downtown during the afternoon of June 26. [38] At the protest, Jeff Atkinson, spokesperson for the Canadian Labour Congress, said, "We don't want G20 countries to cut stimulus spending until jobs recover."
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Protest_Online Condemnation
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UNESCO Withdrawal Announced
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The United States formally ended 38 years of association with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) yesterday, announcing that it will withdraw at the end of the month because the agency has been politicized leftward and is financially irresponsible. However, Gregory J. Newell, assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs, said U.S. membership could be renewed if the 116-nation institution makes certain changes in its operations. In the meantime, he said, an "observer panel" will be set up at the State Department to monitor UNESCO's performance, and the United States will assume the formal status of an "observer" at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. The U.S. withdrawal was promised a year ago and has been debated around the world ever since. Critics have charged that it was motivated more by the Reagan administration's conservative ideology than by UNESCO management problems, which all sides acknowledge are serious. Newell noted that UNESCO had made improvements over the past year but said they had not gone far enough. "An unacceptable gap clearly remains," Newell said. "When UNESCO returns to its original purposes and principles, the United States would be in a position to return to UNESCO." Conservatives encouraged the withdrawal as a step toward possibly dropping out of the United Nations, which they see as little more than a forum for anti-American speeches. Asked if the UNESCO decision signaled such a plan, Newell said it "should certainly be a warning to other organizations that this administration will not tolerate the problems that caused us to remove ourselves from UNESCO." But he added that there are no current plans to withdraw from any other international body, including the Food and Agriculture Organization, which has been targeted by federal budget-cutters. The move will deprive UNESCO of $47 million in U.S. funds for fiscal 1985, or about 25 percent of its $200 million annual budget. Newell said that he would propose continued U.S. spending at that level for other programs to accomplish UNESCO's goals but that budget requests were under review. "Our chief goal is not UNESCO's good health or UNESCO reform; it is international development," Newell said. He added that he would propose diverting part of the $47 million to the United Nations Development Program, the Agency for International Development and the U.S. Information Agency. Other sources close to the debate said it was questionable whether the administration would continue to spend $47 million on international science, cultural and education programs because the sum would be "like a piece of cheese in front of a mouse" at the Office of Management and Budget, which is looking for ways to slash federal spending. UNESCO officials in Paris said they will seek voluntary contributions and make budget cuts to cover the loss of U.S. funds, and may call a special governing board session in January. UNESCO spokesman Doudou Diene expressed "regret" at the U.S. decision, saying he did not see how it would help efforts to reform UNESCO. He said the United States "did not help in discussing reforms because it did not submit any list of proposals until last July" and even then "did not indicate that these reforms were a condition for remaining in UNESCO." Newell said the United States had been "abundantly specific," listing its requests in March, April, May and finally to the board in July. "What would have kept us in was some kind of informal commitment by the executive board to make our requests to the general conference next November . We didn't get it," said a State Department official close to the debate. "We were exceedingly explicit." Diene disagreed. "What is very sad is that nobody expressed that," he said in a telephone interview. "The point remains, what exactly does the U.S. want?" He said if the answer is political, "it will be better to be there when the executive board and the conference meet next year." In a recent speech, Newell called UNESCO's financial management "atrocious," saying 80 percent of its budget is spent at the Paris headquarters. Its benefits, he said, "can be had at a far lower price than that of the obloquy we endure in Paris." Chartered in 1946 "to contribute to peace and security by promoting collaboration among the nations through education, science and culture," UNESCO operates 182 programs around the world, spending 40 percent of its budget on education. It has organized large-scale literacy efforts in developing countries and set up international scientific research teams; it gives technical help to developing nations and has organized the preservation of major natural, historic and architectural sites worldwide. Newell said U.S. participation in the Universal Copyright Convention, the Oceanographic Commission and some educational exchanges will not be affected and that an arrangement will be sought to allow continued work in UNESCO's widely praised "Man in the Biosphere" program of environmental research. But Newell has charged that UNESCO promotes "Soviet-inspired" world disarmament in some of its education programs, boosting the needs of states over the rights of individuals and demanding a "new international economic order" critical of free-market capitalism. Poor, Third World nations have used UNESCO forums to vote sanctions against Israel, praise revolutionary organizations and to denounce and routinely outvote the United States. The administration charged last December that UNESCO had "extraneously politicized virtually every subject it deals with; exhibits hostility toward the basic institutions of a free society, especially a free market and a free press; and demonstrated unrestrained budgetary expansion." In a July 13 letter to UNESCO Director-General Amadou-Mahtar M'Bow of Senegal, Newell asked that the organization's major financial sources be given control of the budget, that certain "politicized" programs be abandoned and that the organization adopt a simplified, zero-growth budget. No one was able to keep track of everything UNESCO was doing, Newell wrote, and "the result is a combination of annoyance, frustration, indifference, helplessness and pretense." Although many nations, including much of Europe, urged the United States to reconsider its position, others joined in making similar complaints. Many concerns focused on M'Bow, a debonair, 63-year-old diplomat whose elegant life style and frequent world travel led to charges that he had overspent and mismanaged UNESCO's budget for personal gain during his 10 years in office. He denied the charges and refused to resign. Newell refused to discuss M'Bow yesterday. "Our complaints involve programs and policies. We don't deal in personalities," he said. Prodded by the United States, Britain also has announced that it would withdraw at the end of 1985 if reforms are not forthcoming. UNESCO has always been controversial. Congress suspended the U.S. contribution in 1974 after the organization recognized the Palestine Liberation Organization and condemned Israel. It was later restored, but UNESCO's reaction to its critics has been uneven. UNESCO defenders say it did what it could this year, setting up problem-solving groups and cooperating with a management review by the General Accounting Office. It hired a Washington public relations firm with ties to the Reagan administration, Wagner & Baroody, at $15,000 a month to plead its case. But only one executive board session was scheduled after July, and some U.S. demands required the approval of the biennial UNESCO General Conference next November. The board meeting recommended a two-year freeze on the UNESCO budget and put several dubious programs on a review list. The industrialized bloc of U.S. allies failed to support some of the U.S. proposals, including those to change voting procedures. The 10 European Economic Community nations wrote President Reagan earlier this month, asking him to postpone U.S. withdrawal for a year. The kind of rhetoric that U.S. diplomats had found offensive has been notably absent this year from UNESCO documents. The rhetoric had included routine denunciations of Israel and references to the "New International Economic Order," a phrase that conservatives regard as a thinly veiled call for world revolution. UNESCO also withheld funding for a privately organized conference on "protection of journalists" that critics had called an effort to control the media, and dropped a proposal to license reporters. But Newell called these moves "a tactical retreat," not a policy change.
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Withdraw from an Organization
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Aeroflot Flight 7841 crash
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Aeroflot Flight 7841 was a scheduled Soviet domestic passenger flight from Minsk to Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg), which crashed on 1 February 1985 killing fifty eight people on board. [1] Twenty-two people (including three crew members) survived the accident. [1] The crash was caused by engine failure brought on by ice ingestion. On 8 May 1985 the Tupolev Tu-134A was officially written off. [2]
The Tupolev Tu-134A, registration number CCCP-65910, serial number 63969, involved in the accident was manufactured on 11 May 1982 and had 448 completed flight cycles prior to the accident, having entered service on 8 June 1982. [2][1] Tu-134s are equipped with two tail-mounted Soloviev D-30 turbofan engines. [3]
Six seconds after takeoff, at an altitude of 35 m (115 ft) and with a speed of 325 km/h (202 mph), a rapid loss of power occurred, accompanied by pops and Jet Pipe Temperature (JPT) overheating. [1] The crew levelled the wings and continued climbing, when the co-pilot reported a failure of the left engine to air traffic control. [1] At 65 seconds after takeoff, an excessive vibration alarm indicated failure of the right engine. [1] Then, at an altitude of 240 m (790 ft) and a speed of 325 km/h (202 mph), the right engine failed, while the aircraft was still in the clouds. [1] In an attempt to retain speed, the captain initiated a descent with a vertical speed of 7 m/s. [1] The aircraft was descending onto forest, with some trees up to 30 m in height. [1] At an altitude of 22 m (72 ft) and with a five-degree right bank angle, the aircraft impacted the tree tops. The aircraft continued hitting the trees and ultimately burned down except the aft portion. The crash site was located 10 km (6.2 mi) east of Minsk National Airport by search groups after three hours. [4][1]
The investigation concluded that both engines failed due to ice ingestion, which led to compressor stall, destruction of the compressors and over-temperature of the turbine blades. [1] Citing significant damage to the aircraft and engines, the investigators were unable to determine where the ice came from. [1]
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Air crash
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Floreat bank robbed.
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eA police hunt is underway for a man who robbed a bank in the Boulevard shopping centre in the Perth suburb of Floreat this afternoon. It is understood the man may have been armed with a firearm. He fled with cash but police will not reveal how much. They are looking for a man in his mid thirties, with fair to tanned skin, wearing a blue hoodie. Police have warned members of the public not to approach him.
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Bank Robbery
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Gilroy Police investigate officer-involved shooting
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A man who exchanged gunfire with police early Wednesday morning died at a trauma center after being struck by “at least” one bullet, according to Gilroy Police.
At about 2:30am, police responded to a business on the 100 block of Fourth Street for a report of an intoxicated man. When an officer arrived, the man, described only as an Hispanic adult, shot at the officer with a handgun “within seconds,” police stated in a press release.
The officer returned fire, and the man suffered at least one gunshot wound during the exchange, according to police. Medical aid was provided at the scene, but the man succumbed to his injuries after being transported to a local trauma center.
The man’s identity is not being released pending notification of next-of-kin, police said, adding that no officers were struck by gunfire during the incident.
In security footage posted by a nearby Church Street resident on social media, six gunshots can be heard within a span of one minute.
This shooting is being investigated by the Gilroy Police Department’s Investigations Bureau and Internal Affairs. An investigation is also being conducted by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office.
Eigleberry Street remains closed between Fourth and Fifth streets as the investigation continues.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Det. Christopher Silva at 408.846.0335.
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Investigators comb the scene at the intersection of Fourth and Eigleberry streets Sept. 8 where an officer-involved shooting took place early that morning. Photo: Erik Chalhoub
Markers point to evidence at the intersection of Fourth and Eigleberry streets Sept. 8 where an officer-involved shooting took place early that morning. Photo: Erik Chalhoub
Investigators comb the scene at the intersection of Fourth and Eigleberry streets Sept. 8 where an officer-involved shooting took place early that morning. Photo: Erik Chalhoub
Gilroy Police closed the streets in the area of Fourth and Eigleberry Sept. 8 to investigate an officer-involved shooting. Photo: Erik Chalhoub
Investigators comb the scene at the intersection of Fourth and Eigleberry streets Sept. 8 where an officer-involved shooting took place early that morning. Photo: Erik Chalhoub
ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
The Gilroy Police Department is investigating an officer-involved shooting in the area of Fourth and Eigleberry streets, and authorities have temporarily closed the nearby roadways to vehicle traffic.
Police sent out an alert about the investigation and traffic closures at 7am Sept. 8. As of 10:40am, Eigleberry Street was still closed between Fourth and Fifth Street. Access to the post office at 100 Fourth Street is unavailable until further notice.
Authorities have not released any details about the shooting that led to the investigation. Check back here for details.
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Famous Person - Commit Crime - Investigate
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Addressing Climate-Related Financial Risk Through Bank Capital Requirements
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Australia's economy has plunged into its first recession in nearly 30 years, as it suffers the economic fallout from the coronavirus. Gross domestic product (GDP) shrank 7% in the April-to-June quarter compared to the previous three months. This is the biggest fall since records began back in 1959 and comes after a fall of 0.3% in the first quarter. An economy is considered to be in recession if it sees two consecutive quarters of negative growth. Australia was the only major economy to avoid a recession during the 2008 global financial crisis - mainly due to demand from China for its natural resources. At the start of this year, the economy was hit by falling economic growth due to an extreme bush fire season and the early stages of the coronavirus outbreak. More recently the shutdowns of businesses across the country have taken their toll, despite measures by the government and central bank to support the economy. This is the worst economic growth in 61 years due to a severe contraction in household spending on goods and services. 2020 will go down as a year to remember and a year everyone is already trying to forget! It's the year Australia technically lost its famous nickname as 'The Lucky Country' and fell into recession for the first time in almost three decades. GDP figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics have shown that the economy shrank by 7% in the last three months as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. For young people who have recently joined the work force, this is something they've never experienced before. Australia has had a steady economy growth for decades with strong coal, iron ore and natural gas exports to a surging China. Tourism has also been a big driver of growth. But this year, the country was hit hard. Twice. When the bushfires ravaged through more than 12 million hectares, tourism was bashed and thousands of small business lost months of essential seasonal revenue. Then the coronavirus became a global pandemic. Australia closed down its borders and imposed strict social distancing rules. Nearly 1 million people lost their jobs as a result. I remember watching the long queues outside social and financial support offices back in March with people dazed at finding themselves in this situation perhaps for the first time in their lives. There's also an increasingly tense relationship with China, Australia's biggest trading partner. Australia has strongly and publicly backed a global inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus in April which infuriated the Chinese government. Since then, Canberra and Beijing have exchanged political jabs and the Australian economy has felt the pinch. Scott Morrison's government has already pumped more than A$200bn (£110bn; US$147bn) in economic stimulus. Australia has fared better than many other nations around the world in controlling the virus and in subsequent economic slump but this country of abundance will have to face a much harsher reality for a few years to come. Australia last fell into recession in mid-1990 which ran into late 1991. But the coronavirus pandemic has been a major blow to the Australian economy, although the figure is slightly better than the 8% fall Australia's reserve bank had earlier forecast. Despite the severe drop in economic activity, Australia is doing better than most other advanced economies that have experienced bigger downturns. The US economy, the world's biggest, shrank 9.5% between April and June while the UK's shrank by 20.4% pushing it into recession as well.
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Financial Crisis
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1993 Klamath Falls earthquakes
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The 1993 Klamath Falls earthquakes took place in Klamath Falls, Oregon, beginning on Monday, 20 September at 8:28 p.m. The doublet earthquake registered respective magnitudes of 6.0 and 5.9 on the moment magnitude scale. The earthquakes were located at a depth of 5.6 miles (9 km) and tremors continued to be felt more than three months after the initial shocks. The tectonic structure of south-central Oregon is riddled with fault lines. The West Klamath Lake fault zone is capable of earthquakes up to Richter magnitude 7.3. The magnitude 5.4 Coos Bay earthquake which preceded a later 2002 Klamath Falls earthquake occurred along the northern segment of the Blanco Fracture Zone, which is separate from the inland Klamath Basin and Range geological province. [1]
These fault networks have caused several previous earthquakes in the Klamath Falls area. Records from 1945 indicate approximately fifteen seismic events, prior to the 1993 events, circulating within a 10-mile (16 km) radius of Klamath Falls. [2] However, of those observed during the preceding fifty years, only six were considered significant. [3][4] Previously most tremors measured less than 4 Mw with the strongest being 4.3 Mw in 1948. [4]
The September 1993 earthquakes began striking at approximately 8:16 p.m. local time. The first major quake registered 5.9 on the moment magnitude scale with a foreshock registering 4.2 Mw about twelve minutes before. [3] The second major shock was at 10:45 p.m. Over the next five months at least 300 more tremors were recorded. [3][4] The strongest aftershock occurred on 4 December 1993, and measured 5.4Mw. [5]
The tremors during the September 1993 Klamath Falls earthquakes were some of the strongest felt in Oregon's history over the past 50 years. [6] The first shock was only 4.2 Mw. [3] The two major quakes, which measured 5.9 and 6.0, were, up to that point in Oregon's history, the strongest recorded earthquakes and resulted in the most damage. [7][8]
The epicenter of both earthquakes was located northwest of Klamath Falls in the Mountain Lakes Wilderness. [1][9] The epicenter of the second major shock was slightly more to the north than the previous tremors. [3][4] The major shocks were felt as far north as Eugene, Oregon, and as far south as Redding, California. [5][9]
All of the shocks, from the first foreshock to the last aftershock some two months later, were clustered around latitude 42o20'N and longitude 122o05'W, west northwest of Klamath Falls. [10]
The destructive force of the 1993 Klamath Falls earthquakes was measured at VII on the Mercalli intensity scale. [5] There were only two recorded casualties, one of which involved a motorist who was crushed in a rock slide on U.S. Route 97. [9] The second death was a result of a heart attack. [5]
The tremors precipitated landslides and also caused structural damage to buildings, including the county courthouse, in addition to private residences, businesses and historic buildings in Klamath Falls. Damage was estimated at approximately $10 million. [7][9]
In the wake of the earthquakes, several damaged buildings in Klamath Falls and elsewhere in Klamath County had to be repaired. The city of Klamath Falls obtained a Community Development Block Grant which was used to partially fund upgrades to local public buildings, including the courthouse annex. [11]
Within three weeks after the first major shocks four seismographs were installed in the area by the U.S. Geological Survey. These were helpful in recording subsequent seismic activity. [10]
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Earthquakes
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Celebrity Couples With Staying Power
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Many famous couples do have happy marriages, despite celebrity gossip to the contrary. Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, Michael J. Fox and Tracy Pollan, and Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson are just a few of Hollywood's successful relationships. Medically Reviewed Anyone who reads celebrity gossip magazines knows how precarious relationships can be in Hollywood and other realms of the rich and famous. Another week, another split, another cover story. However, not all celebrity couples are destined to break up . In fact, quite a number of A-list stars revel in having a happy marriage to their longtime partner. The 10 couples that follow are among the most famous household names. Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman These two movie stars first met in 1953 while performing in the Broadway play Picnic, but it wasn’t until they starred in the film The Long Hot Summer that they began a relationship and fell in love. They married on Jan. 29, 1958 in Las Vegas and had three daughters together (Newman already had a son and two daughters with first wife Jacqueline Witte). The happy marriage for this celebrity couple lasted for 50 years, until Newman’s death in 2008. Michael J. Fox and Tracy Pollan Like many celebrity couples, actor Michael J. Fox and actress Tracy Pollan first starred together (in the popular TV sitcom Family Ties) before getting married in 1988 and having four children. Fox was diagnosed with young-onset Parkinson’s disease in 1991 and went public with the news in 1998. He launched the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research in 2000 to raise money for research funding and awareness of the disease. His efforts have actually been helped by positive coverage in celebrity gossip magazines. Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith Jada Pinkett and Will Smith first met in 1990 when she auditioned to play Smith’s girlfriend on his sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. She didn’t get the part, but over time their relationship blossomed. Their lavish wedding at the Cloisters near Baltimore was the subject of celebrity gossip. Their happy marriage has resulted in two children (Smith also has a son from a previous marriage). Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos Actress and co-host of TV’s morning show Live with Regis and Kelly, Kelly Ripa and her husband actor Mark Consuelos are another example of celebrity couples in a happy marriage. Maybe location makes a difference for celebrity couples — rather than living in Hollywood, they reside in New York City where Live is produced. The duo first met on the set of the soap opera All My Children and have three children: Michael, Lola, and Joaquin. Iman and David Bowie Rock stars and models seem to be a common relationship combination, yet Iman and Bowie are arguably the most famous of such celebrity couples. The Somalian supermodel turned cosmetics mogul and the English rock musician wed in 1992. According to the BBC News, Iman has a tattoo of a Bowie knife on her ankle in honor of her husband. They have a daughter, Alexandria Zahra, born in 2000. Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson Most of us know actor Tom Hanks from his blockbuster movies , ranging from comedies such as Big and Forrest Gump to dramas including The DaVinci Code and Saving Private Ryan. Ironically, it was during the filming of one of his lesser-known films, Volunteers that he started a relationship with co-star Rita Wilson. Their happy marriage began in 1985 and they have two children (Hanks also has two children from a previous marriage). Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman Danny DeVito is best known for his role on the TV show Taxi and in movies such as Batman Returns and Get Shorty. He’s also directed many films, including The War of the Roses about a destructive relationship in the divorce process. However, in his private life, DeVito has been in a happy marriage since 1982 to actress Rhea Perlman, one of the stars of the hit TV show Cheers. This celebrity couple has three children. Denzel Washington and Paulette Pearson Washington Like many other celebrity couples, Denzel Washington and his wife Pauletta Pearson met on the job. In their case, work was filming the TV movie Wilma in 1977, about the legendary African-American athlete Wilma Rudolph. The relationship culminated with a wedding on June 25, 1983, and their family includes four children. Washington has starred in a variety of notable films over his impressive career, including American Gangster, Malcolm X, and the recent The Book of Eli. Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick Generally avoiding celebrity gossip, actor Kevin Bacon has been married to actress Kyra Sedgwick since 1988, and they have two children. Like many celebrity couples, the pair finds a happy balance between their work and private lives. Bacon has been in a wide range of films including Footloose, Apollo 13, JFK, and Murder in the First. Sedgwick stars in TNT’s long-running TV drama, The Closer. Faith Hill and Tim McGraw Singer Faith Hill has won a variety of awards, including five Grammys, and sold more than 30 million records worldwide. Her husband, singer Tim McGraw, has had more than 30 No. 1 singles and sold more than 40 million albums. These country music superstars are another example of a celebrity couple with a strong relationship and a happy marriage — they have been married since 1996 and have three children.
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Famous Person - Marriage
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Two people killed, 12 missing after accidents in Chinese coal mines
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SHANGHAI, June 5 (Reuters) - Two people were killed and 12 were missing after two separate accidents at coal mines in China, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Saturday. The two deaths took place at a mine run by Henan Hebi Coal and Electricity Co late on Friday, prompting authorities in the central province of Henan to launch an emergency response plan, CCTV said. It did not give details about the cause of the accident, which left six people missing. Last month, Henan's provincial government said it had approved the reopening of another mine operated by Hebi after it was shut for breaching regulations. In the north of the country, another six people were reported missing on Saturday after an accident at a coal mining plant in Heilongjiang province, the broadcaster said later. China has been carrying out safety inspections at coal mines across the country as record high coal prices encourage miners to ramp up production to meet supply gaps. In May, China's cabinet said it would work to stabilise rising commodity prices, while encouraging coal producers to boost production to meet global demand.
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Mine Collapses
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A special sensation in the sky: The rare red aurora
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Charles Deehr will never forget his first red aurora. On Feb. 11, 1958, Deehr was a student at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. He asked a Fulbright student from Norway named Tone to the Portland Symphony that night. They went for a stroll on a golf course after the concert. Looking past the treetops, they noticed the sky was blood red. People as far south as Mexico saw the red sky that night. Some thought Martians. Others thought Christ was visiting for the second time. In Portland, people thought a forest fire was causing the glow. Deehr knew better, because he was studying the physics of Earth and space. Under the crimson sky, he was sure of two things: he and Tone were seeing a great red aurora, and he would ask her on another date. The Deehrs have now been married 61 years. Charles — Chuck to his friends — was a space-physicist and aurora forecaster at the University of Alaska Fairbanks for most of that time. In decades of sky-watching in the north, he has seen a few red auroras, but not many. Fringes of red and blue hanging from aurora curtains — the result of particles from the sun reacting with nitrogen in the upper atmosphere — happen often, but the great displays that flood the sky with diffuse red light are rare. Red aurora displays happen so high in the sky that they are often the only form of aurora ever seen by people in the mid-latitudes. In A.D. 37, a great red aurora showed itself to the citizens of Rome. Those in London gazed up at a red sky in September 1839. A blazing display in 1938 lit the sands of the Sahara Desert in northern Africa. Deehr and his date witnessed one of the most spectacular displays in 1958. Others have happened in 1989, 2000 and 2001. A rare red aurora over Alaska in February 1958. Great red auroras are rare because they require a perfect mix of heavenly conditions. “To get a pure red aurora, you need two things from the sun,” Deehr said. “Lots of solar flares with ultraviolet radiation to heat the Earth’s atmosphere, and lots of coronal mass ejections to power the Earth’s magnetospheric generator of aurora.” The green aurora that northerners enjoy almost every dark night is a product of particles cast off by the sun that stream outward into space. This solar wind takes a day to two to reach Earth. It flows over the planet and reacts with Earth’s magnetic field. In the upper atmosphere, this electrical discharge reacts with gases, causing them to glow in the same way electricity fires up a neon light. Green auroras occur at about 60 miles above Earth. Pure red auroras are much higher, from about 200 to 300 miles up, which allows people closer to the equator to see them. An important gas remaining at that altitude is oxygen, and electrons that excite the oxygen atoms there produce a red light as pure as a laser. Cameras and phones that can capture more light wavelengths than our eyes sometimes show red in aurora photos in which the photographer only saw greens. Red auroras have to be 10 times as bright as green auroras for us to see that color with the naked eye. Red auroras are unpredictable, but in the past they have tended to bunch themselves around periods when the solar cycle — an 11-year period of sun activity — features lots of solar activity. Today, Chuck Deehr is a professor emeritus at the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He doesn’t expect to ever see a red aurora as brilliant as the night of Feb. 11, 1958, but some things — like a first date that leads to a 63-year partnership, four daughters and seven grandchildren — happen only once in a lifetime.
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New wonders in nature
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Perth Children's Hospital report finds brass fittings likely caused lead contamination
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More major remedial work will be needed at the problem-plagued Perth Children's Hospital after a comprehensive report found brass fittings to be the likely cause of lead contamination in the facility's drinking water, which has contributed to lengthy delays in its opening.
In a report by the State's chief health officer Tarun Weeramanthri, the fittings were found to have corroded, leaching lead into the water system.
Professor Weeramanthri recommended the fittings, contained in 1,200 mixing valve assembly boxes, be removed and replaced.
The report found the problem is "most likely widespread throughout the building" and sheets the problem home to building contractor John Holland.
It said "the construction phase" was "the critical period when the problem emerged and failed to be addressed", and that the issue might have been identified earlier if the project had been adequately documented.
"Failures of the contract management and assurance function during the construction phase may underpin both the emergence of the problem and the failure to identify and address it in a timely fashion," the report found.
The hospital was originally slated to open in 2015 but has been plagued by a series of problems including asbestos in roofing panels and damage to hundreds of decorative panels on the building's facade.
Health Minister Roger Cook said the hospital was now unlikely to open this year.
"I believe it will be early 2018 but obviously we have to be sure that the chief health officer is satisfied," he said.
Mr Cook said identifying the source of the lead had been "an incredibly frustrating process", hampered by lack of access to the site until the Government accepted practical completion of the building in April.
He said rectifying the brass fittings problem was the responsibility of John Holland, but said there should be no additional cost to the Government.
"We don't think this will have an impact in terms of the overall budget in relation to the taxpayer," he said.
"We believe this is the sort of thing that the builder will take care of."
Water testing results in June showed only 74 per cent compliance with Australian drinking water standards, despite the introduction of a phosphate treatment flushed through the pipes aimed at inhibiting lead leaching.
A Building Commission audit released in April found the most likely source of contamination was either the ring main pipes at the precinct or the brass fittings installed at the new hospital, while an internal government report found the brass fittings were to blame.
Professor Weeramanthri's report also revealed that more than 200 kilolitres of water a day is being flushed through the pipes at the hospital, the same amount that would be required if the hospital was fully operational.
It found the phosphate treatment that started in May has been "partially" effective at bringing down lead levels and should be continued.
But questions were raised in the report about chlorination of the hospital's water supply, which can cause corrosion.
It found John Holland had failed to show whether it had conducted chlorination to required standards, despite repeated requests.
John Holland has repeatedly argued there was lead coming into the hospital from an outside source.
A spokeswoman for John Holland said the company would not comment on the report until next week.
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Environment Pollution
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India’s 4x400m relay team sets Asian mark, still falls short of final spot in Tokyo Olympics
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A couple of seconds after Amoj Jacob—the youngest of India's 4x400m men's relay team at 23—took the baton from Rajiv Arokia—the eldest of the quartet at 30—for the anchor leg of their heat, he had five sprinters ahead of him. The Polish, Jamaican and Belgian runners were way ahead, but the Japanese and Frenchman were within striking distance. Thus began the chase.
At the start of the bend, Jacob went past Japan's Aoto Suzuki, and towards the end of the curve went toe-to-toe with Gilles Biron of France. Then he took off. With the baton in his furiously pumping right hand, he pulled away in the final stretch, extending a yawning gap with the two he had just beaten for pace. Even then, he dipped his head slightly to cross the finish line, ensuring the Indian team finished with a time of 3:00.25s.
That time is the new Asian record in the event. The Indians ended fourth in Heat 2, a good 0.51s ahead of the fifth-placed Japan. Still, it was not enough to merit a place in the eight-team final for which the top three teams from each heat and the next two fastest teams qualified. Heat 1, a much quicker race which also saw the African record, had Italy (fourth) and Netherlands (fifth) clock 2:58.91 and 2:59.06, respectively. Both those times are national records.
India stood ninth overall among the 16 teams, the fastest team to not qualify. However, it was a creditable performance to round off India’s track challenge at the Tokyo Olympics, which had otherwise little to cheer about barring the 3000m steeplechase national record by Avinash Sable, who too missed out on final qualification by one spot.
Qatar had previously rewritten the Asian record for the longer relay at the 2018 Asian Games with a gold medal-winning run of 3:00.56. In that race, India featuring Kunhu Muhammed, Dharun Ayyasamy, Muhammed Anas and Arokia took silver, clocking 3:01.85s.
Anas, 26, and Arokia were in Tokyo too, with the former starting in lane 2. Anas, the national record holder in 400m, delivered the baton in 45.67s, the slowest among the four. The 26-year-old Tom Noah Nirmal ran 45.06s and at the halfway point in the race, the Indians were placed sixth. Arokia cranked it up a notch, injecting some more speed, to finish his part of the job in 44.84s. Then Jacob—the runner from Delhi who was part of the 2017 Asian Championships-winning 4x400m team—took over, clocking the fastest Indian time to finish the final leg in 44.68s.
The relay team qualified for the Tokyo Olympics on the back of a season best showing at the national inter-state championships in Patiala in the last week of June clocking 3:01.89.
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Break historical records
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Algeria's former president Abdelaziz Bouteflika dies aged 84
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Bouteflika fought for independence from France, reconciled his conflict-ravaged nation, and was then ousted amid pro-democracy protests in 2019 after two decades in power.
The report did not give the cause of death or information about funeral arrangements.
Bouteflika had suffered a stroke in 2013 that badly weakened him.
Concerns about his state of health were kept secret from the Algerian public and helped fuel public frustration with his 20-year rule.
Mass public protests by the Hirak movement led to his departure.
An astute political chameleon, Bouteflika had been known as a wily survivor ever since he fought for independence from colonial ruler France in the 1950s and 1960s.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Sunday that does not regret terminating a contract with France to supply submarines in favour of a deal with the United States.
The sudden move angered France and prompted Paris to recall its ambassadors to Canberra and Washington.
Morrison said Australia had flagged up doubts over the French subs months ago, and that the US nuclear vessels would serve its interests better in the Indo-Pacific region.
"We formed the view that the capability the attack-class submarines (they) were going to provide was not what Australia needed to protect our sovereign interests," added Morrison.
The French had signed a contract in 2016 for a dozen conventional diesel-electric submarines and the work to make them was already underway.
The deal with the French majority state-owned Naval Group was worth at least €56bn.
France recalled its ambassadors to the US and Australia on Saturday, in what officials said was not a reaction to the loss of the contract but the wider betrayal of trust.
"This is very symbolic," said Jean Yves Le Drian, French Foreign Minister in a TV interview. "There was a lie, there was duplicity, there was a major breach of trust and there was disdain, so things are not going well between us, not at all. It means that there is a crisis."
Canberra 'regrets' diplomatic row with France
The office of the Australian foreign minister, Marise Payne, had earlier issued a statement expressing Canberra's “regret” over France's withdrawal of its ambassador.
It added: “Australia understands France’s deep disappointment with our decision, which was taken in accordance with our clear and communicated national security interests."
France also recalled its ambassador to the United States in a move ordered directly by President Emmanuel Macron.
The security pact known as "AUKUS" was announced on Wednesday by Washington, Canberra and London.
Although none of the three governments made any mention of China, the new partnership is widely understood to be an attempt to counter Beijing's assertiveness in the region.
It plans for deeper diplomatic, security, and defence cooperation between the three capitals with enhanced capabilities and interoperability in cyber, artificial intelligence, and quantum technologies.
Australia will be allowed to build nuclear-powered submarines for the first time, using technology from the US and the UK.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and US President Joe Biden said in a statement that their partnership is "guided by our enduring ideals and shared commitment to the international rules-based order."
On Thursday, Le Drian blasted the move by the three anglophone countries as "a stab in the back," adding: "This unilateral, brutal, unpredictable decision is very similar to what Mr Trump used to do."
Analysts have warned that France's historic decision to recall ambassadors could mark the beginning of a more severe reaction.
“This is far more than just a diplomatic spat," Peter Ricketts, a former UK ambassador to France, told the BBC. " The withdrawal of ambassadors is the tip of the iceberg."
In a U-turn, the United States military admitted on Friday that a drone strike that killed multiple civilians in Afghanistan last month was an error.
"The strike was a tragic mistake," Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of US Central Command, told a Pentagon news conference.
The Pentagon said an internal review revealed that only civilians were killed in the attack, not a self-proclaimed Islamic State group extremist as first believed.
For days after the Aug. 29 strike, Pentagon officials asserted that it had been conducted correctly, despite numerous civilians being killed, including children. McKenzie told reporters the vehicle was struck “in the earnest belief” that it posed an imminent threat.
“I am now convinced that as many as 10 civilians, including up to seven children, were tragically killed in that strike," McKenzie said. “Moreover, we now assess that it is unlikely that the vehicle and those who died were associated with ISIS-K, or a direct threat to US forces," he added, referring to the Islamic State group's Afghanistan affiliate.
McKenzie apologised for the mistake and said the United States is considering making reparation payments to the family of the victims.
Euronews interviewed last week Emal Ahmadi who said he lost ten family members in the strike, including his three-year-old daughter.
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Tear Up Agreement
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Mysterious 18th century warship artefact pulled from Gulf of Finland
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Marine archaeologist Minna Koivikko said she got goosebumps simply talking about the moment the relic was handed to her. Over the weekend, Finnish Heritage Agency marine archaeologist Minna Koivikko enjoyed one of the highlights of her career when she was handed a lion's head sculpted from wood that was retrieved from an 18th century shipwreck. "It was the same feeling as holding your own baby. It's like the feeling that you're really on the verge of something miraculous," Koivikko enthused. The shipwreck was discovered decades ago off the south coast municipality of Kirkkonummi, at a depth of about 60 metres, but still very little is known about it. Story continues after photo The well-preserved ship (referred to as the Kasuuni wreck (siirryt toiseen palveluun)) has remained a mystery to researchers, as it is not known to which country the 30m-long warship belonged, who sailed on it, nor whether any members of its crew survived when it sank. Over the weekend the carved lion's head was brought to the surface by volunteer divers from the non-profit group Badewanne, because the Heritage Agency doesn't have a team that can dive to the depths of the wreck. The carved head came from a part of the ship used to operate its anchors, the English term for it is 'cathead,' a long beam located on either side of a sailing ship's bow. Often, the ends of those beams were carved with the face of a lion or cat. Story continues after photo Koivikko was not sure why the beams had feline decorations. "That's a good question, one for marine mythology. I guess it could be because the cat has many lives," she pondered. The diving volunteers have been documenting shipwrecks in the Gulf of Finland for more than two decades. The gulf was referred to as 'Badewanne' during WWII. Koivikko said that it was a very memorable experience to see the retrieved artefact. "It was a legendary experience when it was brought to the surface. Then you could see hundreds of years of history in the daylight. That moment will be remembered for a long time. I even get goosebumps just talking about it," she said. Story continues after photo Usually parts of shipwrecks are left in place on the seabed in the name of cultural heritage, but divers are able to photograph the wrecks for others to admire. However, a decision was made to take the lion's head as it had already fallen off its beam and onto the sea floor. The head has already been taken to a National Museum Conservation Centre lab for examination. "I hope the decorative head will provide some more information about the wreck," Koivikko said. There are plans to put the wooden lion's head on exhibit at the Maritime Museum of Finland in Kotka. "Unique" Gulf of Finland shipwreck may be 400 years old30.7. Government proposes lifting protected status of sunken M/S Estonia for investigation12.5. Among other assurances, the opposition wants to make sure Finland can suspend the processing of asylum applications under certain circumstances.
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Shipwreck
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Suspected Disease Outbreak Hitting Princeton's Deer Population
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PRINCETON, NJ — The township has asked residents to immediately report sick of dead deer to Animal Control, after The Department of Environmental Protection's Division of Fish and Wildlife confirmed Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD) in the White-Tailed Deer population of New Jersey. In Princeton, the first suspected case of EHD was found by Animal Control on Aug. 30 in the Oak Ridge area of town, the township said. Since then, 25 deceased deer suspected of carrying EHD have been documented. The disease is contracted from the bite of an insect called midges. The outbreak among the deer population usually begins in late summer and it cannot be transmitted to people, according to the NJDEP. Humans are not at risk by handling infected deer, being bitten by infected midges, or eating infected deer meat, officials said. However, the Division of Fish and Wildlife advises against eating the meat of any game animal that appears sick. Symptoms of EHD in deer include difficulty standing, drooling, and foaming from the mouth or nose. Since the disease causes fever, sick or dead deer are often seen in or near water. Transmission of the disease ends when midges are killed by the frost, the NJDEP said. Residents can report sick or deceased deer through Princeton's Online Portal or call (609) 924-2728. The townsho['s Animal Control is providing carcass pick up Monday-Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and forwarding all information to NJ DEP.
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Disease Outbreaks
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Fifteen years of Serbia’s membership in the Partnership for Peace: Cooperation stable, the public uninformed
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For almost fifteen years of Serbia’s membership in the Partnership for Peace, the list of concrete achievements of this cooperation in the fields of security – military, civilian and scientific cooperation – is significant, while the political benefits of cooperation with NATO are always highlighted in the official documents. Nevertheless, Serbia remains committed to a policy of military neutrality. What also has not changed is the perception of citizens about NATO, which remains negative. Relations between Serbia and NATO, therefore, will remain at the current level in the foreseeable future, experts predict. Cooperation within the Partnership for Peace (PfP) is carried out at the level and speed determined by each partner country. Multiple participants in the program, launched in 1994, have become members of NATO, but countries that do not have that ambition also participate in it; in addition to Serbia, these are Sweden, Finland, Austria, as well as all members of the former Soviet Union. Serbia formally became a part of the PfP on 14 December 2006, when then-President Boris Tadić signed the Partnership for Peace Framework Document. “Starting from the belief that the national security of the Republic of Serbia is closely connected with the security of the region of Southeast Europe, the Republic of Serbia wants to build relations with NATO members and partners…We believe that the realization of this commitment is complementary to our goal of accession to the EU”, stated a 2007 document in which the Government of Serbia defined the goals and areas of cooperation. What has been achieved in the meantime? Marija Ignjatijević, a researcher at the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP), says for EWB that cooperation between Serbia and NATO has been intense and has been on an upward trajectory since 2006, although it often takes place far from the eyes of the public. “When it comes to cooperation with NATO, the first association of people is most often activities such as military exercises. However, NATO offers partner countries opportunities for cooperation in civilian areas as well, in response to civilian security challenges. The most interesting example is participation in the Science for Peace and Security program, through which scientific institutions in Serbia get the opportunity to cooperate with colleagues from member countries, access to modern equipment and resources, and young scientists get the opportunity to work on interesting projects with colleagues from abroad” explains Ignjatijević. In addition to the achievements within the Science for Peace, it is often pointed out that Serbia, through NATO funds, financed the destruction of surplus obsolete ammunition and received almost 4 million euros for that purpose. Through the programme for improving security in education, as stated on the NATO website, Serbia has become a provider of security in the field of education and training. The Center for Atomic-Biological-Chemical Defence in Kruševac is certified as a partner centre for education and training. When it comes to the Serbian Army, through the Partnership for Peace, it has participated in building interoperability with the armed forces of the partner countries – reaching NATO standards, after which the unit is certified to participate in operations and carry out declared missions and tasks. In the past fifteen years, the Serbian Army has held dozens of military exercises with NATO and over 100 with individual members, cooperating in the field of civil protection and emergency situations, with the most pronounced exercise being “Serbia 2018”, where over 2000 participants from 40 countries practised earthquake response. Serbia also cooperates with other actors on the international scene as part of its foreign policy of balancing and military neutrality, Marija Ignjatijević stresses, adding that this did not affect the scope of cooperation with NATO. “Last year, at this time, we saw what this means in practice, when Serbia found itself in a gap between East and West in the situation of going to a military exercise in Belarus. In order to avoid angering one side or the other, Serbia froze international military cooperation for 6 months. In that situation, the defense system and its members suffered the most, considering that they lost 6 months of valuable cooperation, exchange of knowledge and experiences with colleagues from abroad. Although cooperation in the field of defense with Russia has intensified in the last few years, it has not affected the scope of cooperation with NATO and I believe that this trend will continue, the only question is how it will be presented to the domestic public and foreign partners. Military cooperation is certainly one of the foreign policy tools and is naturally harmonized with foreign policy, but even in military cooperation, the needs of the defense system and practical benefits should be taken into account more”, she emphasizes. In addition to the exclusive security dimension, there is also the political dimension of cooperation, which is highlighted as very important by official documents of NATO and Serbia – it includes political dialogue, mutual visits of NATO and Serbia leadership, participation of Serbian MPs in the work of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in 2007, as well as the Alliance’s support for Serbia’s European integration and cooperation on KFOR. Unlike specific forms of cooperation in the security sector, the results of political cooperation are more difficult to quantify. According to Igor Novaković, Director of Research at the International and Security Affairs Council (ISAC), the security aspect of cooperation means the most to Serbia. “This is because there are different forms of communication with the armies of the member states in the region and with their ministries. We are now part of that forum, which is weaker than NATO itself, but still significant. There are lines of direct communication, the liaison office with NATO at the Ministry of Defense, which shows that the communication is at a high lever”, says Novaković. Asked whether the “list” of achievements in the last fifteen years is short or long compared to expectations, Novaković assesses that the results have significant, especially compared to what Serbia -NATO relations were before 2006. “In comparison to the cooperation between Serbia and NATO before that, it is certainly important, primarily because the cooperation was raised to a higher level, especially after Serbia received the Individual Partnership Action Plan in 2014 and thus entered the ranks of the highest possible formal partnership, although the advanced members of the PfP are those embers who send their forces to NATO missions, which Serbia does not”, says Novaković. He adds that, given the historical situation, in general, that cooperation is at a much higher level than is acknowledged in the public. “This is a topic that, in my opinion, is often avoided, primarily due to the preferences of the voters and historical heritage, but that cooperation means to us because we are surrounded by either NATO member states or those countries where NATO has a direct presence and the constitutional obligation to be present, for example in the case of BiH”, emphasizes Novaković. Since joining the Partnership for Peace, Serbia has gone through three so-called Individual Partnership Programs between 2009 and 2012, and then moved to the next level of cooperation – the Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP). There are no indications that the cooperation could go to a higher level, towards full membership, or descend from it. The first Individual Partnership Action Plan, as the most intensive form of cooperation within the Partnership for Peace, was adopted in 2014 and entered into force in January 2015. After its expiration, the second IPAP was adopted for the period from 2019 to 2021. These documents list the specific activities that Serbia wants to carry out within the framework of cooperation with NATO, in the field of military and defense issues, scientific cooperation, crisis situations and protection of classified information, but also in the areas of foreign policy and economic reforms. A large number of activities have been placed in the “ongoing process” category, with no specific deadline for their completion. Igor Novaković believes that the relationship as they exist now are stable. “They will not fundamentally change. Especially when you look at the IPAP from 2014, how it is structured, if we look, a good part of that cooperation with NATO and support for reforms related to the process of European integration (as a long-term process)”, Novaković points out. One of the main limiting factors for further cooperation is the negative perception of NATO due to the 1999 bombing. The percentage of citizens who support Serbia’s membership in NATO in recent years has been in the single digits, and the Alliance still has a very negative treatment in the media, which is the conclusion of a recent CeSID survey. The survey included over 9000 articles, of which, among those related to NATO, 6% were positive and 65% were negative. Another survey, conducted by Council for Strategic Policy (CfSP), analyzed the print media in 2020 and found that 60% of the total number of headlines about NATO were related to the 1999 bombing, mostly in traditional media such as Večernje novosti and Politika. “Every government in Serbia since 2007 has invoked military neutrality, presenting it as a geostrategic specificity and an advantage of the Republic of Serbia, and that is certainly something that, even at this moment, the electorate wants to hear. The memory of the NATO bombing is still relatively fresh and it is the citizen’s first association with NATO for 22 years, so this government only continues to please its electorate and does not put the topic of cooperation with NATO in greater focus… Authoritarian regimes, such as today’s power in Serbia, are maintained thanks to the construction of some internal and external enemies, and in our case that external enemy is certainly not Russia and China, but NATO and the West”, says Dajana Ostojić, project manager at CfSP. She adds that NATO has remarked that the public diplomacy in Serbia is a problem, because the public does not see what kind of cooperation Serbia and NATO have had on a daily basis for 15 years since Serbia became a member of the PfP. “Serbia, for example, in 2019, held a total of 17 military exercises with other countries, of which 13 were with NATO, while only 4 with Russia. However, NATO is also aware of the perception of public opinion in Serbia about the recent past, so they do not conduct any major pressure to change the narrative of reporting about NATO. However, such media coverage will not have any fatal consequences for the cooperation between Serbia and NATO as long as it takes place within the Partnership for Peace, which does not mean membership in that alliance”, says Ostojić. When it comes to the further development of relations between Serbia and NATO, Ostojić believes that there will be no significant changes in them in a longer period of time. “In the next few decades, Serbia’s membership in NATO will certainly not even be the subject of consideration, but what is quite certain is that the IPAP, which expires at the end of 2021, will be renewed, and that the previous intensive cooperation within the Partnership for Peace will continue”, concludes Ostojić.
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Military Exercise
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Eastern Air Lines Flight 855 crash
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On May 5, 1983, a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, registration N334EA, operating as Eastern Air Lines Flight 855 en route from Miami International Airport to Nassau International Airport, experienced the loss of all three engines near Miami, Florida. The flight crew succeeded in restarting one engine in time to safely land the aircraft at Miami International Airport. The incident aircraft was a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar 1, registration N334EA,[1] msn 1141. The aircraft had been manufactured in 1976. [2] It was powered by three Rolls-Royce RB211-22B turbofan engines. [2][3]
On May 4, N334EA had flown into Miami where it underwent overnight maintenance, which included a check of the magnetic chip detectors inside the jet engines. This involved removing the master chip detector from each engine and replacing it with a new one. [4] Each chip detector had two O-rings, which served as oil seals. The replacement chip detectors were not fitted with O-rings, a fact which escaped the mechanic who fitted them. After the chip detectors were fitted, each engine was motored for 10 seconds to check for oil leaks. None were found. The aircraft was signed off as serviceable and returned to service. [5]
Eastern Air Lines Flight 855 took off from Miami International Airport at 08:56 on a flight to Nassau International Airport in the Bahamas carrying 162 passengers and 10 crew. [6] On board was a veteran flight crew, consisting of Captain Richard Boddy (58), Captain Steve Thompson (48) and Flight Engineer Dudley Barnes (44). Captain Boddy had more than 12,000 hours of total flying experience, although he was new to the L-1011, having logged just 13 hours in the aircraft type. On this flight, Captain Thompson served as a supervisory check airman. He had accrued close to 17,000 flight hours throughout his career, with 282 hours in the L-1011. Flight Engineer Barnes had more than 9,000 hours of total flying time, with 2,666 hours clocked in the L-1011 cockpit. [7]
At 09:15, while descending through 15,000 feet (4,572 m), the low oil pressure indicator on the TriStar's number 2 engine illuminated. [2] The flight engineer noted that the oil pressure on the #2 engine was fluctuating between 15 and 25 psi; the minimum pressure required for normal engine operation was 30 psi. [7] The captain ordered the flight engineer to shut down the engine. By this time, the plane was about 50 miles (80 km) from Nassau. [7] The crew elected to return to Miami to land. Flight 855 received a clearance back to Miami, as well as instructions to begin a climb to FL200 (20,000 ft, 6,096 m nominal altitude). [2]
En route back to Miami, low oil pressure lights for engines #1 and #3 illuminated,[6] and the oil quantity gauges for all three engines read zero. [7] At 09:23, Flight 855 informed Miami ARTCC of the engine gauge readings but stated, "We believe it to be faulty indications since the chance of all three engines having zero oil pressure and zero quantity is almost nil. "[7] At 09:28, at an altitude of 16,000 feet (4,877 m), the #3 engine failed. Five minutes later, the #1 engine flamed out while the crew was attempting to restart the #2 engine. [2] Cabin lights went off and flight deck instruments stopped working. The aircraft descended without power from about 13,000 feet (3,962 m) to about 4,000 feet (1,219 m), at a rate of descent of approximately 1,600 feet (488 m) per minute. [7] The crew successfully restarted the #2 engine on the third attempt and executed a one-engine landing at Miami at 09:46. [2][7]:4 After the landing the power from #2 engine was insufficient for the aircraft to taxi; a tug had to be used to tow it to the airport terminal, where the occupants disembarked normally. [7]:4 None of the 172 passengers and crew aboard were injured in the incident. [2]
The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause of the incident was as follows:
[T]he omission of all the O-ring seals on the master chip detector assemblies leading to the loss of lubrication and damage to the airplane's three engines as a result of the failure of mechanics to follow the established and proper procedures for the installation of master chip detectors in the engine lubrication system, the repeated failure of supervisory personnel to require mechanics to comply strictly with the prescribed installation procedures, and the failure of Eastern Air Lines management to assess adequately the significance of similar previous occurrences and to act effectively to institute corrective action. Contributing to the cause of the incident was the failure of Federal Aviation Administration maintenance inspectors to assess the significance of the incidents involving master chip detectors and to take effective surveillance and enforcement measures to prevent the recurrence of the incidents. It was subsequently established that the engines needed to be run for at least 30 seconds with no O-rings fitted before an oil leak would become apparent. [8]
Barnes, Boddy and Thompson were each presented with an Award for Outstanding Airmanship by the Airline Pilots Association. [9]
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Air crash
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One man killed, two hospitalised after horror Queensland mine collapse
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A 60-year-old man has died after the ceiling of a Queensland mine collapsed on him, with two others taken to hospital. A 60-year-old man has died and two others were taken to hospital after the ceiling of an underground mine collapsed in Queensland on Tuesday night. A section of the wall and ceiling fell in on the workers at the Sojitz Gregory Crinum Coal Mine near Emerald at about 11pm, Queensland Police told NCA NewsWire. A worker in his 20s who became trapped in the rubble suffered serious but non-life threatening injuries was airlifted to assistance by a critical care team while another man was taken to hospital in a stable condition. “A man with pelvic and leg injuries was initially encapsulated before being freed and airlifted to Rockhampton Hospital in a serious condition, while a second patient was assessed for critical injuries,” Queensland Ambulance Service said. “A third patient was also transported stable to Emerald Hospital following a medical event.” The underground mine collapse occurred at the site about 60km northeast of Emerald, which is a coal coking operation – a crucial component in the making of steel. The mining sector’s inspectorate confirmed to NCA NewsWire investigators were already on the scene attempting to unravel the reason for the horrific accident. “Resources Safety and Health Queensland confirms tragically overnight a miner has lost his life and another suffered injuries following a fall of rock from the roof at Crinum underground coal mine near Emerald,” the body said in a statement. “The injured worker has been transported to hospital for assessment.” A teenager has been charged with murder over the death of Queensland woman Rene Latimore. A man has died after driving into Queensland floodwaters and it could take emergency services some time to retrieve his vehicle. Veterans have flooded a landmark inquiry with hundreds of submissions detailing awful acts experienced while serving.
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Mine Collapses
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President Trump Announces U.S. Withdrawal from JCPOA; U.S. Sanctions on Iran Will Be Re-Imposed Following Wind-Down Periods
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On May 8, 2018, President Trump announced that the United States would cease its participation in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The JCPOA, often referred to as the “Iran Nuclear Deal,” was implemented in January 2016 between the P5+1 (i.e., the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council—China, France, Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom—plus Germany) and Iran. The agreement brought sanctions relief to Iran in exchange for Iran’s compliance with key nuclear-related commitments.
In making this announcement, President Trump issued a National Security Presidential Memorandum (NSPM) that instructs relevant agencies responsible for administering U.S. sanctions on Iran to “re-impose sanctions lifted or waived in connection with the JCPOA as expeditiously as possible.”1 The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has issued guidance on the implications of U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA, including the specific sanctions that will be re-imposed, their timing, and general and specific licensing policies with respect to Iran.
As detailed further in this alert, this decision will have significant implications for businesses that benefited from U.S. sanctions relief under the JCPOA.
On January 16, 2016, the group of nations called the P5+1 (i.e., the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council—China, France, Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom—plus Germany) implemented the JCPOA with Iran. Pursuant to the agreement, Iran was required to dismantle much of its nuclear program and grant international inspectors access to its nuclear-related facilities. In exchange, the United States, the European Union and the United Nations agreed to lift nuclear-related secondary sanctions that had been crippling the Iranian economy.
Sanctions relief by the United States through the JCPOA was largely limited to what are known as “secondary sanctions”—a series of measures codified in U.S. laws that authorized the U.S. government to impose sanctions on foreign companies engaging in certain activities involving Iran, even when such activities have no U.S. jurisdictional nexus. The nuclear-related secondary sanctions implemented with the JCPOA included those that targeted activities key sectors of the Iranian economy, including Iran’s financial, energy, petrochemical, shipping, shipbuilding and automotive sectors. The United States also revoked several executive orders authorizing sanctions on Iran and took action to remove more than 400 individuals and entities that had been previously designated for their involvement with Iran’s nuclear program from OFAC’s List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (“SDN List”).
The United States, however, preserved the core U.S. embargo on Iran administered by OFAC pursuant to the Iran Transactions and Sanctions Regulations (ITSR). This embargo retained U.S. “primary sanctions” on Iran, which restrict U.S. persons (and non-U.S. entities owned or controlled by U.S. persons) from engaging in virtually all business involving Iran unless authorized pursuant to an OFAC license or through a statutory exemption.
As a candidate, President Trump ran on a platform in opposition to the Iran Nuclear Deal. He described the JCPOA as “one of the worst deals [he had] ever seen” and stated that he would “rip it up” if elected. However, following the election, the Trump administration did not take action to renegotiate or otherwise undermine the JCPOA. Rather, President Trump maintained the status quo by waiving secondary sanctions at required 120- and 180-day intervals, and preserved several key authorizations to conduct Iran-related business pursuant to general and specific licenses, such as General License H (GL-H), which authorized non-U.S. persons owned or controlled by U.S. persons to engage in Iran-related business otherwise restricted by the ITSR.
In October 2017, however, the Trump administration revived its hardline stance in opposition to the JCPOA. During that month, President Trump refused to certify that the JCPOA was in the national interest of the United States2 and charted a new U.S. strategy toward Iran, which called on Congress and U.S. allies to “fix” the “terrible flaws of the Iran nuclear deal.”3 The President identified the following areas that needed to be addressed by Congress and U.S. allies: (1) a requirement that Iran allow immediate inspections at all sites requested by international inspectors; (2) Iran’s development and testing of missiles; and (3) elimination of the “sunset clause” of the JCPOA. The President has also called on U.S. allies to “take stronger steps with us to confront Iran’s other malign activities” (e.g., support for terrorist groups, Iran’s cyber threats, human rights violations and threats to international shipping). President Trump also threatened to “terminate” the agreement if this did not occur—a decision that he said could be made unilaterally by him “at any time.”4 For more information, see our November 2017 alert available here.
On January 12, 2018, President Trump faced a decision on whether to renew waivers of secondary sanctions for the fourth time under his presidency, and continue U.S. sanctions relief pursuant to the JCPOA. President Trump issued the waivers, but said he was doing so “in order to secure our European allies’ agreement to fix the terrible flaws of the Iran nuclear deal.”5 He went on to say that this would be the “last chance” for the Iran Nuclear Deal and threatened to cease U.S. participation in the JCPOA if a supplemental agreement was not reached by the next waiver deadline on May 12, 2018.6 For more information, see our January 2018 alert available here.
Between January and May 2018, representatives from the U.S. State Department and political directors from the United Kingdom, France and Germany (“the E3”) met on numerous occasions to address the three issues above; however, the parties were unable to reach consensus on a supplemental agreement acceptable to the Trump administration. In addition, major shake-ups in the Trump administration—most notably the resignation of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (who favored staying in the JCPOA) and the appointments of Mike Pompeo and John Bolton, two Iran hawks who favored withdrawing from the JCPOA, as Secretary of State and National Security Advisor, respectively—were likely key contributing factors to this outcome. Several commentators have speculated that the Trump administration post-Tillerson had no intent to engage in bona fide negotiations with the E3.
On May 8, 2018, President Trump announced that he was withdrawing the United States from the JCPOA following a wind-down period. This announcement was coupled with the issuance of a NSPM directing the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Treasury to prepare for the re-imposition of all U.S. sanctions lifted or waived in connection with the JCPOA, “as expeditiously as possible and in no case later than 180 days from the date of the NSPM.”7
In making the announcement, President Trump called the JCPOA a “disastrous deal” and a “great embarrassment.”8 He stated that a supplemental agreement had “not materialized” and was thus “making good on [his] pledge to end U.S. participation in the JCPOA.”9 He further stated that the United States “will be instituting the highest level of economic sanction” on the Iranian regime and stated that “[a]ny nation that helps Iran in its quest for nuclear weapons could also be strongly sanctioned by the United States.”10 In addition, the President remarked that while exiting the JCPOA, his administration would work with “allies to find a real, comprehensive, and lasting solution to the Iranian nuclear threat.”11
International reaction to the announcement by President Trump was swift. Shortly after, the leaders of the United Kingdom, France and Germany emphasized their continued commitment to the JCPOA and stated that their countries intend to remain parties to the agreement.12 The United Kingdom, for example, stated that it fully supports expanding its trade relationship with Iran and encouraged businesses to take advantage of the commercial opportunities that arise.13 High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini also stated that “[a]s long as Iran continues to implement its nuclear related commitments, as it is doing so far, the European Union will remain committed to the continued full and effective implementation of the nuclear deal.”14 Finally, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani issued a statement that the United States was in breach of the JCPOA, but that it would seek to remain in the deal.15
The announcement to cease U.S. participation in the JCPOA will be accompanied by the re-imposition of sanctions that were lifted or waived in connection with that agreement. Pursuant to OFAC guidance, these sanctions will be imposed following either a 90-day or 180-day wind-down period depending on the activities subject to sanctions. The FAQs also provide guidance with respect to implications on certain specific and general licenses, activities authorized during the wind-down periods and potential future measures.
On August 6, 2018, the U.S. government will re-impose several bases for secondary sanctions that were waived pursuant to the JCPOA. These secondary sanctions target the activities by non-U.S. persons in the following areas:
On November 4, 2018, the U.S. government will re-impose several bases for secondary sanctions that were waived pursuant to the JCPOA. These secondary sanctions target the activities by non-U.S. persons in the following areas:
In addition to re-imposing sanctions as discussed above, OFAC will also take action with respect to specific and general licenses that were issued in connection with the JCPOA.
The U.S. government has issued waivers necessary “to provide for an appropriate wind-down period.” OFAC states in its FAQ that it plans to keep these waivers in place during the duration of the applicable (90- or 180-day) wind-down periods and states that “non-U.S., non-Iranian persons are advised to use these time periods to wind-down their activities with or involving Iran that will become sanctionable at the end of the applicable wind-down period.”
Notably, OFAC does not foreclose the possibility that non-U.S. companies could continue engaging in business, or even enter into new business, during the applicable wind-down periods. Instead, OFAC states that “when considering a potential enforcement or sanctions action with respect to activities engaged in after August 6, 2018, or November 4, 2018, as applicable, OFAC will evaluate efforts and steps taken to wind down activities and will assess whether any new business was entered into involving Iran during the applicable wind-down period.” This implies that OFAC would look unfavorably upon new business that may be conducted during the applicable wind-down period, and such new business would be an aggravating factor in the event that an independent basis exists after the applicable wind-down period to pursue a potential enforcement or sanctions action.
OFAC also clarified that non-U.S. and non-Iranian persons are authorized to receive payment after the applicable wind-down period for goods or services fully provided or delivered to Iranian counterparties before the applicable wind-down period ends. This also applies to receipt of repayments for loans or credits extended to an Iranian counterparty. In order to receive payment, the transaction at issue must be pursuant to a written contract entered into before May 8 and consistent with U.S. sanctions at the time into which it was entered (including exclusion of U.S. persons or the U.S. financial system, unless otherwise authorized).
On November 5, 2018, OFAC intends to re-designate on the SDN List all persons listed pursuant to Executive Order 13599 who meet the definition of “government of Iran” or “Iranian financial institution” (“EO 13599 List”).20 Notably, with respect to secondary sanctions, OFAC states that activity involving persons removed from the SDN List on January 16, 2016 “could be sanctionable to the extent they are outside the scope of the wind-down waivers issued by the State Department.”21
In addition to the above, the U.S. government intends to re-impose sanctions pursuant to Executive Orders 13574, 13590, 13622, 13628 and 13645 that were lifted via Executive Order 13716. These sanctions target activity by non-U.S. persons and foreign financial institutions involving sanctioned persons and the energy sector of Iran. OFAC states that when these sanctions are re-imposed, they will be subject to a wind-down period that expires either on August 6, 2018 or November 4, 2018, depending on the activity.22
The announcement on May 8, 2018 does not revoke or amend the scope of the following frequently used general licenses authorizing Iran-related business:
It is important to note that OFAC may choose to revoke or amend these authorizations in the future.
The decision by the United States to re-impose sanctions on Iran that were waived or lifted pursuant to the JCPOA will have far-reaching impact on U.S. and non-U.S. persons that have benefited from sanctions relief over the course of the prior two years. This decision also drastically changes the risk calculus for all companies contemplating new opportunities that potentially intersect with Iran or Iranian parties.
It remains to be seen how the E3, Russia and China will respond to the United States’ clear challenge of their decision to adhere to the JCPOA, and, particularly, whether these countries will take any concrete action—such as through blocking statutes, trade disputes or otherwise—to attempt to protect their nation’s companies that are doing business with Iran under JCPOA-based sanctions relief.
If you have any questions concerning this alert, please contact:
Shiva Aminiansaminian@akingump.com+1 310.552.6476Los Angeles
Mahmoud Baki Fadlallahmfadlallah@akingump.com+971 4.317.3030Dubai
Jasper Helderjasper.helder@akingump.com+44 20.7661.5308London
Jonathan C. Polingjpoling@akingump.com+1 202.887.4029Washington, D.C.
Tatman R. Saviotatman.savio@akingump.com+852 3694.3015Hong Kong
Wynn H. Segallwsegall@akingump.com+1 202.887.4573Washington D.C.
Chiara Klauichiara.klaui@akingump.com+44 20.7661.5342London
Johann Straussjstrauss@akingump.com+971 4.317.3040Dubai
1 Presidential Memorandum, Ceasing U.S. Participation in the JCPOA and Taking Additional Action to Counter Iran’s Malign Influence and Deny Iran All Paths to a Nuclear Weapon (May 8, 2018), https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/ceasing-u-s-participation-jcpoa-taking-additional-action-counter-irans-malign-influence-deny-iran-paths-nuclear-weapon/ (NSPM).
2 This is required by the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 (INARA). INARA, which was enacted on May 22, 2015, requires the President to certify every 90 days that Iran is in compliance with the JCPOA and that continued suspension of sanctions is vital to U.S. national security interests.
3 White House, Statement by the President on the Iran Nuclear Deal. January 12, 2018.
4 Id. 5 Press Release, White House, Statement by the President on the Iran Nuclear Deal (Jan. 12, 2018), https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/statement-president-iran-nuclear-deal/.
6 Id. (“This is a last chance. In the absence of such an agreement, the United States will not again waive sanctions in order to stay in the Iran nuclear deal. And if at any time I judge that such an agreement is not within reach, I will withdraw from the deal immediately.”).
7 See NSPM, Section 3; FAQ 1.1. Regarding the Re-Imposition of Sanctions Pursuant to the May 8, 2018 National Security Presidential Memorandum Relating to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/jcpoa_winddown_faqs.pdf.
8 Press Release, White House, Remarks by President Trump on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (May 8, 2018), https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-joint-comprehensive-plan-action/. (“May 8 Trump JCPOA Remarks”).
9 See NSPM, Introduction.
10 See May 8 Trump JCPOA Remarks.
11 Id. 12 Press Release, The Prime Minister’s Office, Joint Statement from Prime Minister May, Chancellor Merkel and President Macron Following President Trump’s Statement on Iran (May 8, 2018), https://www.gov.uk/government/news/joint-statement-from-prime-minister-may-chancellor-merkel-and-president-macron-following-president-trumps-statement-on-iran.
13 Department for International Trade, Doing Business in Iran: Trade and Export Guide (May 8, 2018), https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/doing-business-with-iran/frequently-asked-questions-on-doing-business-with-iran#challenges-and-risks-of-doing-business-in-iran.
14 Press Release, European Union External Action Service, Remarks by HR/VP Mogherini on the Statement by US President Trump Regarding the Iran Nuclear Deal (JCPOA) (May 8, 2018), https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage/44238/remarks-high-representativevice-president-federica-mogherini-statement-us-president-trump_en.
15 Erin Cunningham & Bijan Sabbagh, Iran to Negotiate with Europeans, Russia and China about Remaining in Nuclear Deal, Wash. Post (May 8, 2018), https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/iran-prepared-for-all-scenarios-if-trump-nixes-nuclear-deal-officials-say/2018/05/08/531047a0-5241-11e8-a6d4-ca1d035642ce_story.html?noredirect=on.
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Tear Up Agreement
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1991 European Super Cup
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The 1991 European Super Cup was the 16th European Super Cup, an annual football match organised by UEFA (the Union of European Football Associations) and contested by the winners of the previous season's European Cup and Cup Winners' Cup competitions. The match was played on 19 November 1991 and featured the 1990–91 European Cup winners, Red Star Belgrade, and Manchester United, winners of the 1990–91 Cup Winners' Cup. It was meant to be played over two legs, but due to the political unrest in Yugoslavia at the time, UEFA decided that only the leg at Manchester United's home, Old Trafford, would be played. The match kicked off at 19:15 GMT, in front of a crowd of 22,110. Red Star Belgrade were the better team in the first half, but had two attempts cleared off the line by Manchester United players, and missed the goal with their other shots. In the second half, Red Star started the stronger of the two again, but United improved, playing counter-attacking football. In the 67th minute, Brian McClair scored the only goal of the game, a close-range rebound after a shot by Neil Webb. United went close to adding a second goal, but the game finished 1–0, giving Manchester United their first and only European Super Cup title. Red Star Belgrade qualified for the Super Cup as the winners of the 1990–91 European Cup;[1] they had beaten Marseille 5–3 on penalties in the final in Bari, Italy, after the match had finished 0–0 after extra time;[2] that game was described as "the most boring final match in European Cup history" by one of the Red Star players, Siniša Mihajlović. [3] The other Super Cup place went to Manchester United, winners of the 1990–91 European Cup Winners' Cup, having upset the strong favourites Barcelona 2–1 in the final in Rotterdam, Netherlands. [4] It was the first Super Cup appearance for either side; although Manchester United had won the European Cup in 1968, the Super Cup had not been established at that point. [5]
It was the first time that Manchester United and Red Star Belgrade had met in a competitive match since their 1957–58 European Cup quarter-final. [6] After beating Red Star 5–4 on aggregate, the aircraft on which the Manchester United team were travelling home crashed on its third attempt to take off from Munich-Riem Airport. In total, 23 people were killed in the Munich air disaster, including eight of the United team, three staff members and eight journalists; a further two players never played football again as a result of the injuries they suffered. [7] The Manchester United manager at the time of the disaster, Sir Matt Busby, was in attendance at the Super Cup, while Red Star manager Vladica Popović had played against Manchester United in 1958. [6]
Typically, the Super Cup was played over two legs, but due to the volatile situation in Yugoslavia, which was in the midst of civil war, UEFA decided that they would not play in Belgrade. As a result, only one match was played, at Manchester United's Old Trafford ground. [8] A further consequence of the political unrest was the dismantling of the Red Star team. The journalist Jonathon Aspey described their European Cup-winning team as one that "oozed class and represented to the West what Eastern football can be",[2] but by the 1991–92 season, five of the starting line-up from the European Cup final had joined other clubs. [6] The game was originally scheduled to kick off at 20:00 GMT, but a week before the match, it was brought forward to 19:15. [9] Manchester United went into the tie missing two of their regular players; club captain Bryan Robson was suspended, while Paul Parker was injured. The United manager, Alex Ferguson, also chose to rest Ryan Giggs. [10] Ferguson came up with at least three different versions of the team line-up leading up to the match, as he tried to comply with UEFA's limitations on foreign players. He was eventually told that any foreign players signed prior to 3 May 1988 could play, and up to four non-English players signed since then. This change allowed him to add his Danish goalkeeper, Peter Schmeichel, back into the team, at the expense of 16-year-old English winger Ben Thornley. [6]
For Manchester United, the Super Cup was their only chance to win a European trophy in the 1991–92 season; they had been knocked out of the Cup Winners' Cup in the second round earlier in the month, losing 4–1 on aggregate to Atlético Madrid, thus failing to retain their title. [11] In contrast, Red Star were still in the European Cup, having won in each of the first two rounds. [12] In the lead-up to the match, Ferguson said, "If we can defeat one of the best teams in Europe, it will be a real boost for us. "[10]
The match was played at Old Trafford, in front of a crowd of 22,110,[13] roughly half the capacity of the ground,[6] and Manchester United's lowest home attendance of the season. [14] The Times' reporter at the game, Stuart Jones, explained that the match was played primarily for a television audience, and was more of a friendly match for the two sides. [13] Manchester United had the first chance of the game in the second minute, when they were awarded a penalty by the referee, Mario van der Ende; a free kick from the right wing was hit to the far side of the penalty area by Lee Martin, where the ball was met by Gary Pallister, only for his header back across the box to be blocked by the arm of Red Star centre-back Miodrag Belodedici, who received a yellow card for handball. Manchester United captain Steve Bruce placed the penalty kick to the right of Red Star goalkeeper Zvonko Milojević, who palmed the ball round the post. [13] United had another chance at goal four minutes later, when Milojević saved a shot from Mark Hughes. [6] Manchester United's attacks in the first half were slow and laboured, rarely piercing Red Star's defence. Meanwhile, the Red Star forwards, Dejan Savićević and Darko Pančev, each broke through the United defence with quick, purposeful attacks. [13] Pančev just missed the goal with a 20-yard volley, before heading wide from a free kick. [6] Twice, attacks from Savićević and Pančev beat United's goalkeeper, Peter Schmeichel, but were cleared off the line by Gary Pallister and Clayton Blackmore. [13] Another header from Pančev went narrowly wide just before half-time, and the score remained 0–0. [6]
The travelling side continued to have the best of the play at the start of the second half: Savićević just missed the target with two angled shots. [15] United, playing a counter-attacking game, started to have more success. In the 67th minute, Neil Webb dribbled the ball around Savićević on the edge of the box, and hit a shot that was deflected by Milojević onto the post. The ball rebounded to McClair, who put it into the net from close range, giving United a 1–0 lead. [6] According to the Irish Independent, Manchester United played better after the goal, and had further chances to double their advantage; Blackmore hit a long-range shot that was parried by Milojević, while Giggs could only hit the goalkeeper with an effort and a volley from Hughes was saved near the ground by Milojević at his near post. [15]
Assistant referees:
Cees Bakker (Netherlands)
Jef van Vliet (Netherlands)
Reserve referee:
Eddie Lomas (England)
Match rules
Both Manchester United and Red Star Belgrade earned an estimated £200,000 from the match, primarily from the television broadcast rights. [13] Manchester United won their first and, as of 2021, only European Super Cup;[16] they later lost the 1999, 2008 and 2017 Super Cups. [5]
Recalling the match later, Pančev said that although United had a good team, he felt that Red Star Belgrade were unlucky not to win. [17] Ferguson, who was full of praise for the Red Star team, said: "They certainly have the talent and the imagination to do well and I think they are coming good at the right time. "[18] The Red Star Belgrade team continued to be dismantled; within two years, almost all of their European Cup-winning side had left the club. According to Aspey, "an era had ended before it had even begun. "[2] Red Star have not appeared in the European Super Cup since.
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Sports Competition
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Brexit: Ministers plan laws overriding part of withdrawal deal
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Although the UK formally left the EU in January, it has continued to follow rules set in Brussels during a transition period - which ends on 31 December - while discussions over a long-term trade agreement continue. Another round of talks - the eighth - begins on Tuesday, aimed at securing a deal to allow companies to trade without taxes or customs checks. But Mr Johnson is expected to tell EU leaders it must be agreed in time for the European Council meeting on 15 October if it is to be in force by 1 January. "If we can't agree by then, then I do not see that there will be a free trade agreement between us, and we should both accept that and move on," he will say. 'Good outcome for the UK' The UK has said it wants a deal with the EU which resembles Canada's , which gets rid of most, but not all, tariffs on goods traded. But Mr Johnson will say no deal means having a "trading arrangement with the EU like Australia's", using terms set by the World Trade Organisation. In practice, this would mean taxes on exports and customs checks. "That would be a good outcome for the UK," the prime minister will say. During trade talks, the UK and EU have been at loggerheads over two issues in particular - the future of fisheries and state aid, the money given by governments to help companies. The EU says the UK is trying to give itself an unfair advantage by applying different rules on state aid, but the UK insists it should have control over this as a sovereign country. Michel Barnier, the EU's chief negotiator, told French radio on Monday: "The British would like the best of both worlds - export their products to the European market on their terms." 'Electrifying development' Meanwhile, the government will publish its Internal Market Bill - designed to protect trade arrangements between the four parts of the UK - on Wednesday. This could contradict the Northern Ireland Protocol, set up to prevent a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, which many fear could be detrimental to peace. The protocol says Northern Ireland will follow some EU customs rules - meaning customs declarations for goods moving from Northern Ireland to Great Britain, as well as some new checks on goods going from Great Britain into Northern Ireland - after the transition period. The Financial Times said the bill would "eliminate" the legal force of the Withdrawal Agreement, struck less than a year ago between the UK and EU, in areas including state aid and Northern Ireland customs. BBC political correspondent Chris Mason described the proposed bill as an "electrifying development in the Brexit process". European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted that she trusted the UK government "to implement the Withdrawal Agreement, an obligation under international law and prerequisite for any future partnership". She added that the Northern Ireland Protocol was "essential to protect peace and stability on the island and integrity of the single market". What does Brexit mean for the Northern Ireland border? The Northern Ireland part of the Brexit deal, known as the protocol, was agreed in October last year. It is designed to prevent a hard border in Ireland - or even any new checks at the Irish border. It does this by effectively keeping Northern Ireland in the EU's single market for goods. This will mean products entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK will be subject to new checks and controls - the so-called Irish Sea border. However the precise nature of these checks needs to be agreed by the EU and UK and this is being negotiated in parallel with the trade talks between the two. The government says it's still committed to the protocol but it could make its own decisions on how it is implemented if it cannot reach agreement with the EU. Labour's Jonathan Ashworth told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Boris Johnson told us he had an oven-ready deal. And he fought a general election telling us he had an oven-ready deal. [This] now suggests that he was misleading people in that general election. "And Parliament supported the Withdrawal Agreement earlier on this year. He has made promises and signed a treaty around these arrangements for Northern Ireland, and he now seems to be backing out of that." Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill tweeted that any threat of backtracking on the protocol would be a "treacherous betrayal which would inflict irreversible harm on the all-Ireland economy and the Good Friday Agreement". Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the move would "significantly increase" the likelihood of a no-deal Brexit, and the "resulting damage to the economy will be entirely Tory-inflicted. What charlatans". Government sources told the BBC the legislation was "not intended to derail the talks", and a spokeswoman said the UK would continue to approach talks with the EU in good faith. "As a responsible government, we are considering fallback options in the event this is not achieved, to ensure the communities of Northern Ireland are protected," she said.
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Tear Up Agreement
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Financial Institutions Are On Notice That Weak Governance Can Lead To Ratings Downgrades And Significant Fines
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Maybe, just maybe, financial institutions’ stakeholders are finally fed up with the bad behavior of the bad apples in banking. According to ‘Governance and Credit Ratings,’ a report published today by Fitch Ratings, the firms’ ratings analysts expect that “idiosyncratic governance weaknesses to weigh on ratings more often than previously as the tolerance of governance failures from a wide range of stakeholders (e.g. authorities, investors, creditors, customers and employees) declines.” Better late than never. As someone who has worked in banking and with bankers since the 1990s, I have never understood investors’ and regulators’ endless ‘patience’ with rule breakers. Maybe now that Fitch is putting financial institutions on notice, executives and Boards of Directors will take ethics and rules much more seriously. A downgrade, or even the threat thereof, for any bank means that their cost of borrowing goes up and that counterparties can ask for an increase in quality and quantity of collateral in a wide range of financial transactions such as loans and derivatives. Bank regulators already can demand that banks increase capital for the operational risk component of Basel III when their corporate governance and any type of controls are weak or breached. Without a doubt that global financial crisis of 2007-2009 was incredibly influential in changing attitudes about financial institutions’ governance failures. Banks, which are far more regulated than other financial institutions (OFIs), also known as non-banks or shadow banks, have seen a significant increase in fines and other requirements so that they can remediate their governance weaknesses. No doubt many consumer advocates feel that the regulators and lawmakers have not gone far enough otherwise there would not be such a high level of recidivism in some banks such as HSBC and Deutsche Bank. Fitch’s report highlighted just a few of the cases that should be a warning to all financial institutions. · Credit Suisse’s recent Outlook revision by Fitch to Negative due to recent events that revealed weaknesses in the bank's risk governance. · Another notable example is Wells Fargo WFC +0.5%, who’s exceptionally high profitability was linked to malpractice, signaling poor governance. · The matters of Goldman Sachs GS +0.8% and 1MDB as fraud, however, were not emblematic of a systematic breakdown in the firm's risk management infrastructure or corporate governance framework, which led to Fitch affirming the ratings on the bank. · A notable example on the insurance side is AIG, which had inadequate loss reserves between 2008-2016 and had a material weakness in internal controls per its independent auditors. You would think that by now, bank executives would take governance more seriously. Failures in controls or looking the other way is expensive for financial institutions. According to Fenergo, “monetary fines alone cost the affected banks USD47 billion between 2008 and 2020 for anti-money laundering breaches, non-compliance with know-your-customer requirements and sanctions violations. In addition, noteworthy changes to executive management and costly adaptations to risk and control systems were required. In some instances, credit ratings were affected.” Fines for financial institutions have risen significantly since the global financial crisis, ... [+] especially in the U.S. And beware to anyone who assumes stereotypically that weak governance is something that happens only in emerging markets. In fact, since the financial crisis the banks that are all too often in the news for governance problems are indeed the Globally Systemically Important Banks (GSIBs) from developed markets. The Fitch Report found that the increase in fines levied on financial institutions “has been most notable in jurisdictions with more developed regulatory frameworks.” This is perhaps a sign that bank regulators in developed markets have more resources or political will to take enforcement seriously. Fitch Ratings’ Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) Relevance Scores demonstrate that governance factors remained the most relevant of all of the ESG factors for credit ratings “across all analytical groups, with factors tied to the issuer and broader group structure most prominent for the corporates and financial institutions sectors.” Issuers with ESG.RS '4' or '5' Importantly, Fitch Ratings analysts assess corporate governance when they rate financial institutions. They take into account both the jurisdiction and the issuer. “Jurisdiction-specific considerations often overlap with the operating environment. Issuer-specific considerations include broader factors, such as the effectiveness and composition of the board of directors, transparency, related-party transactions and know-your-customer processes and enforcement.” Most governance events at financial institutions have gone beyond these features. “Broader risk control shortcomings, which often have a root cause governance failure, have significantly contributed to the most recent string of cases.”
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Financial Crisis
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Sherpa Fire
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The Sherpa Fire was a wildfire that burned in the Santa Ynez Mountains along the Gaviota Coast in the southwestern part of Santa Barbara County, California in June 2016. In a matter of hours the fire spread to over 1,400 acres (570 ha) as the fire was propelled by downslope sundowner winds. This offshore northerly wind contrasts with the more typical onshore flow and sent the fire down the canyons towards the ocean with gusts of over 35 miles per hour (56 km/h). The wildfire resulted in evacuations at two state beach campgrounds and some residences together with intermittent interruption of traffic on a state transportation route. The fire was first reported shortly before 4:00pm on Wednesday June 15, 2016 in the Los Padres National Forest in an area that includes private inholdings. [1][2] In a matter of hours the fire had grown to over 1,400 acres (5.7 km2). [3] According to the United States Forest Service, the fire was propelled by downslope sundowner winds which sent the fire down canyons in the Santa Ynez Mountains with gusts of over 35 miles per hour (56 km/h). These contrasted with the typical onshore flow so the fire alternated directions between day and night as it continued to spread. [3] As the fire grew, evacuations were ordered for El Capitán State Beach, Refugio State Beach and residences in El Capitán Canyon. Both a Red Cross evacuation shelter and a livestock evacuation center were established as the fire was burning in an area with a number of large ranches. [3] As the fire ran down the slope, it forced the intermittent closure of the coastal highway designated as U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1 along with regional and interstate passenger trains and freight service on the adjacent rail line. [4] The fire grew to 4,000 acres (1,600 ha) overnight and destroyed the water system for El Capitán State Beach. [5]
By Thursday morning, the smoke was visible as far south as South Bay, Los Angeles as well as in Antelope Valley prompting the Los Angeles Fire Department to issue a statement regarding multiple 9-1-1 calls being received for the smell of smoke. [6] On the evening of Thursday 16, the sundowner winds resurfaced and once again forced the closure of the 101. [3]
On Friday morning, the Santa Barbara County office of emergency services declared a state of emergency for the region. [7] Additionally a Red flag warning was issued for the region effective through Saturday at 6:00am. [8] While firefighters battled the fire into the weekend, they were aided by weather changes which included reduced winds and higher humidities as the red flag conditions never truly emerged. [7]
On June 27, officials announced that the estimated containment date had been delayed until July 7. [9] According to a Forest Service Spokesman, the final 7% of the perimeter was in extremely rough terrain that was close to impossible for hand crews or bulldozers to reach. [9] Due to the difficulty of access the fire remained only 96% contained on July 9 and the estimated containment date was pushed back to July 21. [10] Due to favorable conditions, on July 12, the Sherpa fire was 100% contained ahead of schedule. [11] Because of the threat of flare ups within the burn area, patrols continued for several days. [12]
At the peak of the fire, nearly 2,000 firefighters were assigned to the incident. [13] Approximately 19 residents lost power as Southern California Edison was forced to shut down transmission lines that passed through the fire ground. [14]
More than a week after the fire broke out, Refugio State Beach reopened to visitors on June 26. [15] While no specific monetary assessment was made public, owners of the general store that services campers in the campground said they "lost a lot of business during the time the campground was closed. "[15]
Following the fire, the El Capitán State Beach Campground was expected to remain closed for weeks. [16] The campground itself was not damaged but a water treatment plant that services the campground sustained major damage. [17]
Air quality advisories were put into effect on June 17 as haze and falling ash were visible in Los Angeles County. [18] The Santa Barbara County AIr Pollution Control District released a statement that said, in part, that while winds are dispersing some of the smoke, there are still pockets of poor air quality as a result of smoky conditions. [18]
The fire, which started on La Scherpa Ranch, had its name misspelled in the first written dispatches of the incident. [19] While intended to be named after the ranch on which the fire started, the 'c' in Scherpa was omitted. According to a spokesman with the United States Forest Service, "once the name of a fire is entered into the national fire reporting and naming system, it can't be changed. Doing so would confuse administrators, make the name unsearchable in records, and so on. "[19]
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Fire
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Cecil Shadbolt crash
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Cecil Victor Shadbolt (1859 – 8 July 1892) was a British photographer, who pioneered aerial photography from flying balloons. Shadbolt was born in 1859, the son of the mahogany dealer and photographer George Shadbolt. [1][2]
He showed photographs of Welsh landscapes at the 1877 Photographic Society exhibition. [2]
His first balloon ascent was in May 1882, at Alexandra Palace. [1] He made his own device for attaching a camera to the basket below a balloon, allowing him to take pictures looking directly downwards. [1] One of his images, taken from 2,000 feet (610 m) over Stamford Hill, is the earliest extant aerial photograph taken in the British Isles. [1] A print of the same image, An Instantaneous Map Photograph taken from the Car of a Balloon, 2,000 feet high, was shown at the 1882 Photographic Society exhibition. [2]
Shadbolt gave public lectures, using magic lantern slides, with the title Balloons and Ballooning, Upward and Onwards. [3]
He was secretary of the West Kent Sunday School Union from 1886. [2]
On 29 June 1892, he took a flight in a gas balloon owned by (or which he co-owned with; sources vary) his friend 'Captain' William D. Dale, at Crystal Palace. [1] The balloon ripped during the initial ascent, at around 600 feet (180 m),[2] and though those aboard dropped ballast, the basket crashed to the ground, immediately killing Dale. [1] Shadbolt and the other passengers were taken to Norwood Cottage Hospital,[2] but Shadbolt died on 8 July,[3] aged 33. [1] He was buried, alongside members of his family, in grave 1,932, square 113, at West Norwood Cemetery. [2] His father was later buried in the adjacent plot. [2]
An inquest at the hospital, on 12 July 1892, under coroner, Mr Jackson, returned verdicts of accidental death. [2]
The Shadbolt Collection of 76 glass lantern slides taken between 1882 and 1892 is held by Historic England,[1] The slides were found at a car boot sale and subsequently purchased at auction by Historic England in 2015. [1][4]
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Air crash
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New data estimates thousands of Australians are living with undiagnosed cancers after COVID-19 lockdowns
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Ms Strachan was rushed straight into surgery where half her tongue was removed and replaced with flesh from her forearm.
"I just thought at that time, 'Well, OK, I may not be able to speak very well. I may not be able to work anymore. And will I survive, ultimately?'
"It was very stressful."
She spent weeks alone in hospital recovering, learning to eat and speak again with her new tongue.
"Since this experience, I've put my health first and everything else fits around [it] rather than it being the other way around," Ms Strachan said.
She is urging everyone to "listen to your body … make your health priority number one".
"It could mean the difference between life or death for you," she said.
'Prioritise your health'
Similar trends are emerging in Sydney after its recent lockdown, where routine breast screening was temporarily suspended.
"We have seen a reduction in cancer cases," breast cancer surgeon Sanjay Warrier said.
"And this reflects, essentially being in the middle of a pandemic strains on the system, and ultimately, a reduction in overall cancer diagnoses."
Breast cancer surgeon Sanjay Warrier believes there may be a spike in the diagnoses of breast cancer and other diseases next year.
(ABC News: Tom Hancock)
Associate Professor Warrier provided data to 7.30 showing a notable rise in more advanced breast cancers in his patients a year after Sydney's early 2020 lockdown.
He says it is likely the same trend will occur after the recent lockdown, and said the impact could be felt for some time.
"It may be through the middle of next year where we start to see a spike," he said.
"I do believe that we may see an increase in advanced cases with time in the next year. And that's a reflection of COVID-19.
"And that will be both in breast [cancer] and in other diseases as well.
"It is important to prioritise your health … and we would really urge you, if you've got any symptoms, to see a GP.
"If you are due for screening, please come and get your screening done."
Similar trends have also been noted overseas .
Experts told 7.30 the reasons cancer diagnoses fall in lockdowns is likely due to the closure of some screening services, the strain on the health system, as well as people's reluctance to get symptoms assessed by a doctor due to fear of catching COVID-19.
Battling cancer during COVID-19
In Sydney's Sutherland Shire, 53-year-old Melissa Blythe has enjoyed getting back into bushwalking with her friends since recovering from a cancer that was diagnosed in the midst of the pandemic last year.
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Famous Person - Sick
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1952 Luqa Avro Lancaster crash
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The 1952 Luqa Avro Lancaster crash was a military aviation accident that occurred in Malta on 30 December 1952 when an Avro Lancaster bomber crashed shortly after takeoff from RAF Luqa into a residential area in Luqa. Three of the four crew members on board the aircraft and a civilian on the ground were killed. The crash also caused extensive property damage. The cause of the crash was engine failure. The aircraft involved in the accident was an Avro Lancaster ASR.III Search and Rescue (SAR) aircraft, serial number SW344. The aircraft had been built during World War II, and after the conflict ended it was modified for maritime search and rescue. It was delivered to No. 37 Squadron RAF in April 1951. This type of aircraft were outdated by 1952, and the squadron was planning on replacing its Lancasters with Avro Shackletons in 1953. [1]
The aircraft was crewed by pilot John C. E. Smith, co-pilot Charles Glanville, radio operator John Crawford Logan and flight engineer Wilfred Morris. It was Glanville's first flight as a captain. [1]
On the day of the accident, the aircraft was to take part in a training flight. After routine checks were performed, the aircraft's engine was started up and it taxied to Runway 06 of RAF Luqa. At 11.40am, as it was making its takeoff run, the inboard port Rolls-Royce Merlin engine began to cut out intermittently, and the engine stopped working completely as the aircraft took off. [1]
With three out of its four engines still working, Smith took over control of the aircraft and attempted to return to the airfield to make an emergency landing. However, the aircraft's speed was too slow, its altitude was too low and it was turning to starboard, and less than three minutes after takeoff it crashed into a residential area in the town of Luqa. [1]
The aircraft hit a house and then crashed into St George Street, hitting three more houses in the process. The aircraft then caught fire, and some debris fell into New Street. The aircraft's tail landed in a building site where a war-damaged house was being rebuilt, while parts of the wings and engines landed on houses, in gardens or in the street. The crash left a trail of destruction of about 275 metres (902 ft), with a number of houses being severely damaged or destroyed. [1]
The search and rescue operation was initially carried out by firefighters from RAF Luqa and the Malta police. Other rescuers arrived on the crash site soon afterwards, including teams from RAF Hal Far and RAF Ta Kali and from the Admiralty Dockyard. British paramedics and specialists as well as United States Navy personnel who had been based at Ħal Far also offered first aid to the victims. [1]
Three of the four crew members on the Lancaster survived the initial crash but were badly injured. Two of them died in hospital within hours of the crash or the following day, leaving pilot Smith as the sole survivor. A civilian from Luqa suffered severe burns due to fire from fuel in one of the aircraft's wings which landed in her garden. She was taken to St Luke's Hospital, where she died on 1 January 1953. At least two other people suffered less serious burns and were also taken to hospital. [1]
After the crash, New Year celebrations at RAF Luqa were cancelled to respect the victims. Two of the crew members were buried at the Imtarfa Military Cemetery on 2 January 1953, while the remains of radio operator Crawford Logan were flown to Scotland and were buried there. The civilian who died of her injuries was buried at the Luqa parish cemetery. [1]
The crash resulted in extensive damage to a number of buildings, with 14 properties suffering some form of damage. A court-appointed architect and Public Works Department surveyed the damage to buildings and services respectively. One family whose house was severely damaged was given alternative accommodation in a building which had been constructed to house Luqa's police station. On the day of the crash, the commanding officer at RAF Luqa sent a £25[a] cheque from the AOC Benevolent Fund to the Luqa parish priest as initial relief for the victims. The RAF was later willing to pay ex gratia compensation, but not as much as was requested by those who had lost property in the crash. Labour Party leader Dom Mintoff campaigned for adequate compensation to be given, and eventually the Claims Commission made a report which awarded compensation based on court experts' evaluations. [1]
One of the first responders at the crash site, RAF Luqa fire section chief Cecil F. Harrison, was awarded the British Empire Medal on 1 September 1953 for his deeds during the rescue. He had discovered two crew members who had been thrown out of the aircraft, and he comforted them amidst burning wreckage and shouted until further help arrived. [1]
An official inquest was held and it found that Flight Sergeant Smith was not responsible for causing the accident. [1]
Today, there is no memorial commemorating this accident. [1]
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Air crash
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2012 Jersey gas holder fire
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The 2012 Jersey gas holder fire occurred when fire broke out at a gas holder, owned by Jersey Gas, on Tunnell Street, in Saint Helier, Jersey. [2] The Jersey Fire and Rescue Service brought the fire under-control, and it burnt out during the early hours of 5 July 2012. In the aftermath of the incident Jersey Gas was fined £65,000 by the island's Royal Court and ordered to pay legal costs of £11,000. [3]
An investigation by the Jersey Fire and Rescue Service conducted shortly after the incident determined the fire started while workers were "repairing a gas leak on the side of the holder", who were using electric tools. During this, the leaking gas ignited. The fire spread and "attacked" the joints of the holder, which caused more gas to leak out and ignite, resulting in a larger and more intense fire. Furthermore, Jersey Gas admitted to not carrying out risk assessments, not providing "a safe system of work" and providing inadequate health and safety training to its employees. [3][4][5]
An area of St Helier was evacuated and cordoned off soon after the fire started. Seven near-by schools were also evacuated. Many residents who live in houses surrounding the gas holder were not allowed to return to their homes until the following day, and some sought assistance at the parish hall. Both employees of Jersey Gas performing the repairs suffered minor burns due to the incident. [3]
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Fire
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July 2012 Beijing flood
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In a twenty-hour period on July 21, 2012, a flash flood hit the city of Beijing in the People's Republic of China. Within a day of the flooding, 56,933 people had been evacuated, while the floodwaters killed 79 people,[1] causing at least 10 billion Yuan (US$1.6 billion) in damages and destroying at least 8,200 homes. [2] In the city, more than 1.6 million people were affected by the flood overall. [3]
Fangshan District was the most heavily affected area of Beijing, located in the southwest, which received a record-setting 460 mm (18 in) of rain, while on average the city received 170 mm (6.7 in) during the same period, the highest recorded since 1951. The Juma River flooded its banks and reached a flow rate of 2,500 m3 (88,000 cu ft) per second. A woman in Fangshan reported the river rose 1.3 metres on her home in approximately ten minutes. [4]
At Beijing Capital International Airport, the floods resulted in the cancellation of over 500 flights, stranding 80,000 travellers. [5]
Urban flooding has recently become more frequent and severe in China. The main causes of the increase in flooding are the limited capacity of urban drainage networks, a loss of natural water bodies, and the loss of land during the urbanization of China. [6] The flooding in Beijing resulted from these factors as well as the heaviest rainfall to hit Beijing in 60 years. [7]
The 2012 flash flood was part of a series of flooding events across China that began in late spring of 2012 and continued during the summer. In July, the areas of southwestern China, including Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and northeastern China including Beijing, Hubei and Liaoning were worst-affected. In 2011, a thunderstorm flooded Beijing and inundated Tiananmen Square. In 2007, a similar July thunderstorm claimed the lives of 22 people. [8] The 2012 flash floods reached levels not seen in previous years. [7]
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Floods
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Many shops in the city remain shut despite first day of reopening of 11 economic activities
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KUALA LUMPUR: Many shops inside shopping malls in the city remained closed to customers despite it being the first day of the reopening of 11 economic activities today. Checks around the Damansara Perdana and Mutiara Damansara areas in Petaling Jaya as well as Subang Jaya saw several shops such as hair salons and carwash premises still shut. Some premises decided to reopen only tomorrow as staff were seen sanitising the premises and making preparations before their could welcome back customers. Other premises such as supermarkets and book stores, which have been allowed to operate for some time now, were seen abiding by the standard operating procedures of tight checks at their entrances. At IPC shopping centre, many furniture shops, fashion and accessory retailers as well as hair and beauty salons were still shut. The New Straits Times learnt that some of these shops decided to only resume their operations tomorrow. A similar sight was seen at the Empire shopping mall in Subang Jaya, as many businesses remained closed. However, some operators decided to take the opportunity today to sanitise their premises so that they can reopen tomorrow. One popular retail outlet at Empire would reopen starting at 1pm tomorrow. A supervisor who works at the retail outlet, Muhammad Aniq Amiruddin, said the delay in reopening the shop was due to the fact that they needed time to prepare things before welcoming customers again. He said the outlet's management wanted to ensure the highest quality of safety can be provided to their customers. "In the past, we would operate from 10am till 8pm. However, when we reopen tomorrow, we will begin operating at 1pm, so that we can use the morning shift to finalise our store preparations. "We need to prepare adequate gloves for customers as well as the staff. We require everybody, including customers to wear the gloves when are at the outlet. "We are also finalising preparations on staff rotation, such as who would guard the entry points and do the necessary things such as scanning body temperatures and making sure everyone scans their MySejahtera app. We would also need to check the customers' vaccination status upon entry." Aniq said the shop would only allow those who had completed their vaccination doses into the shop. He was told that staff members must have their first dose of the vaccine before they are allowed to be on duty to entertain customers. When asked about how he felt about many shops reopening, he said he was okay with it. However, he said he feared any situation where big crowds gathered in any shop. "The fear of being in a crowd is always there, especially with the existence of the new variant of Covid-19." However, Aniq said such worries can be addressed if every person adheres to the SOP. "It's important to adhere to the SOP, monitor our hygiene, sanitise, wear gloves when we're out shopping and wear double face masks while observing physical distancing. "I believe if we strictly adhere to these regulations, we'd be okay, inshaAllah". Meanwhile, shopper Fatin Athirah, 26, was not able to buy the clothes she intended to purchase at Empire as most of the clothes shops at the mall were closed to customers. However, she was happy about the government's decision to reopen businesses. "It is a great opportunity, especially for those businesses that have been struggling to keep their business alive. They have been suffering as some businesses have had zero income these past few months. "Although it is worrying to reopen these shops as the number of Covid-19 cases are still high, our vaccination rates are high as well. That really helps," said the engineer who lives in Shah Alam. She also said the requirement to only allow fully vaccinated people into these shops would motivate more people to go for their vaccinations. The government had, on Sunday, announced that several restrictions on businesses and recreation would be relaxed in states under Phase 1 of the National Recovery Plan starting today. These include car wash businesses; electrical and electronic shops; house and kitchen appliances shops; furniture shops; sports equipment outlets; car accessory outlets; car sales and distribution centres; morning and farmers' markets; fashion and accessory shops; jewellers; and, hair salons and beauty centres (only for basic haircuts).
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Organization Closed
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Dr Lai Kah Weng had been placed on home recovery from Sept 28 to Oct 8, 2021
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Dr Lai Kah Weng had been placed on home recovery from Sept 28 to Oct 8, 2021. SINGAPORE - A doctor has shared his Covid-19 home recovery experience on social media, hoping to destigmatise the disease as a "life-threatening" one. Dr Lai Kah Weng, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon from Healthway Medical's Island Orthopaedic Consultants, told The Straits Times on Sunday (Oct 10) that he wanted to do his part in highlighting social responsibility when dealing with Covid-19, without being overly fearful of the disease. He wrote in a Facebook post on Friday that he had been placed on home recovery from Sept 28 to Oct 8 after developing a runny nose and experiencing mild fever on Sept 27. Erring on the side of caution, he quickly isolated himself from his family and took an antigen rapid test (ART) that same day, which turned out to be negative. The flu-like symptoms persisted throughout the night, prompting him to cancel all his patient appointments for the next day. "I stayed home in the morning, trying to rest and stay hydrated, and I went straight down to my neighbourhood GP later in the afternoon just before closing, so that I could be the last patient (that day) and not risk infecting any other patients waiting to see the doctor," wrote Dr Lai. His next ART was positive and his subsequent polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test confirmed his infection. "I had a fever for around 3.5 days and a dry cough with runny nose, which took about two days to resolve," said Dr Lai. "It just feels like (having the) flu, which lasts slightly longer than usual, and I knew it was getting better each day," he added. He advises those who have deteriorating symptoms to inform their telemedicine provider for further assessment. "Admittedly, I was very stressed when I first started developing symptoms on Monday evening (Sept 27), as I had just visited my elderly parents the day before, and seen my patients at work prior to that," said Dr Lai. Thankfully, all of them were fine. "Therefore, personal awareness and responsibility are extremely important," he said, adding that he was glad to have swiftly isolated himself without putting anyone else at risk. My COVID Home Recovery Journey (28 Sep – 8 Oct 21) Long post warning** Intro As a medical doctor, I treat sick... Dr Lai, who lives with his wife and their four kids, said that his 15-year-old daughter, who is fully vaccinated against Covid-19, took a PCR test that came back positive. She was asymptomatic and likely to have caught the infection from him, he said. This resulted in her entire class at school being placed on leave of absence. None of Dr Lai's other family members got the disease. askST: How to tell if you've been placed on the home recovery programme Moving forward, he hopes that testing be focused on those who are symptomatic. "Testing only when symptoms are present will give the highest yield. If pre-emptive PCR testing is to be considered, maybe we should only test those who are at risk, such as front-line workers or those working in nursing homes," he said. "And for those with symptoms, repeating the ART tests at daily intervals will be useful. It is not uncommon to have negative ARTs which turn positive later, and I was a case in point," he added. Noting that home recovery protocols have changed since his Facebook post, Dr Lai expects that the new policy will take some getting used to, but will be easier for people to follow. For instance, having an automatic time-based discharge after 10 days for those who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 instead of a day seven exit PCR test, makes life a lot easier for swabbers and patients alike, noted Dr Lai. "I was probably one of the last few patients who had to go through that," said Dr Lai, half in jest. More On This Topic Covid-19 quarantine orders scrapped, simpler rules to be rolled out in S'pore from Oct 11 Doing away with quarantine orders and stay-home notices is also a wise move - considering that, at the rate with which the virus is spreading, Singapore could see 10 per cent of the population quarantined or isolated, which is disruptive and impractical, he said. With these changes in place, he hopes that more help can go to those who need it in the future. "Contact tracers can then focus their efforts on tracing links to elderly people or nursing homes to curb transmission as soon as possible. "Those who live with elderly people and need to move to self-isolation facilities, as well as those who might need help buying groceries or food while self-isolating at home, should be given the help they need. It's important to make sure that these people don't fall through the cracks," he added.
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Famous Person - Recovered
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Maya-3 and Maya-4, will be launched to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket’s Dragon C208 on Saturday, Aug. 28
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The country’s third and fourth nanosatellites, Maya-3 and Maya-4, will be launched to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket’s Dragon C208 on Saturday, Aug. 28, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) announced Friday, Aug. 27. The DOST said the launch of the cube satellites is set on Saturday at 3:37 p.m. (Philippine time), more than five months after Maya 2, the Philippines’ fourth satellite and second nanosatellite, was successfully deployed into orbit from the ISS. “The launch is part of the SpaceX Commercial Resupply Mission-23 (SpX-23),” it wrote on Facebook on Friday, citing the STAMINA4Space. The 23rd SpaceX cargo resupply mission will be carrying scientific research and technology demonstrations to the ISS, it noted. Maya-3 and Maya-4 are the first Philippine-university built cube satellites, the STAMINA4Space said. ADVERTISEMENT It said the cube satellites were designed and developed by the first batch of scholars under the Space Technology and Applications Mastery, Innovation, and Advancement (STAMINA4Space) Program: Project 3 – Space Science and Technology Proliferation through University Partnerships (STeP-UP), funded and supported by the DOST with scholarship grants from its Science Education Institute (SEI). The STeP-UP Project is implemented by the University of the Philippines Diliman (UPD) in collaboration with the Kyushu Institute of Technology in Japan, it said. ADVERTISEMENT STAMINA4Space Program’s STeP-UP Project is a graduate program with a nanosatellite engineering track housed within the UPD Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute. “Maya-3 and Maya-4 were developed under STAMINA4Space through the support of DOST Philippines, UP Diliman, Kyushu Institute of Technology, DOST-Science Education Institute, DOST PCIEERD (Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development), DOST Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI), and with the support of the Philippine Space Agency,” the STAMINA4Space said in a Facebook post on Friday. The STAMINA4Space is the country’s space research and development program funded by the DOST and implemented by DOST-Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI) and the University of the Philippines (UP). The program aims to further develop deep expertise that enable and sustain the growth of a local scientific-industrial base in space technology and applications in the Philippines. It succeeded the Philippine Scientific Earth Observation Microsatellite (PHL-Microsat) program, the country’s first initiative in developing the country’s capacity in space science and technology. During its four-year implementation, the program successfully launched two microsatellites: Diwata-1 and Diwata-2; and a nanosatellite, Maya-1. ADVERTISEMENT In March this year, DOST Secretary Fortunato “Boy” T. de la Peña said cube nanosatellites Maya-3 and Maya-4 were in the process of development and were expected to be launched this year. The Philippines’ fourth satellite and second nanosatellite, Maya-2, was successfully deployed into orbit from the ISS on March 14, 2021 at 7:20 p.m. (local time).
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New achievements in aerospace
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Northern Lights predicted to grace southern B.C. skies this weekend, as province on path of geomagnetic storm
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The Northern Lights could put on another dreamy show in the skies across British Columbia this weekend — and nature fans and photographers alike are hoping to catch another mesmerizing glimpse of the phenomenon after it made an appearance earlier this month. A strong geomagnetic storm watch is in effect for Oct. 30 to 31 by the U.S.-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). "The sun has been quite active lately and yesterday a sunspot gave way to a solar flare that led to a coronal mass ejection headed our way," said CBC Meteorologist Johanna Wagstaffe. "If the surge of plasma gets to our magnetic field then that's the recipe for northern lights. As the electrons and particles interact, they can create the beautiful greens and purples in the night sky." When the coronal mass ejection approaches Earth, the U.S. federal agency's DSCOVR satellite will be among the first spacecraft to detect the real-time solar wind changes and will issue any appropriate warnings. The University of Alaska's North America forecast for the phenomenon indicates it could be seen in parts of B.C., including Metro Vancouver, over the weekend. Because the earth is spinning, and the plasma from the sun takes about two days to get to us, there is still uncertainty in the forecast, Wagstaffe said. Astrophotographer Liron Gertsman is among those who spent the previous aurora borealis event scanning the skies and snapping sweeping photographs. "What was really special about a couple of weeks ago, and these northern lights that occasionally happen over Vancouver, is that we're seeing them in a familiar context," he said. "It's a very rare and special and unique opportunity." Gertsman says he'll spend the night monitoring forecasts, which he says often give a 30-minute warning before the Northern Lights become visible. "You can kind of relax at home before the show is about to happen," he said. He says his hope is to get a shot of the glow over the top of the North Shore mountains, even if he has to stay up late. "If the show is good, it's absolutely worth it."
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New wonders in nature
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Tokyo Olympics: Indian 4x400m relay team breaks Asian record but fails to qualify for final
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The Indian men’s 4x400m relay quartet shattered the Asian record during the heats on Friday but missed qualifying for the Olympics final by a whisker.
The quartet of Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Tom Noah Nirmal, Rajiv Arokia and Amoj Jacob completed the race in 3:00.25 to finish fourth in the second heat. They ended at the ninth spot overall, just missing out on the eight-team final line-up.
The earlier Asian record belonged to Qatar, who had clocked 3:00.56 while winning gold in the 2018 Asian Games.
Anas tweeted: “Really happy with the team’s performance and the new record but gutted to have not made it to the finals.”
Halted by heat
In Sapporo, India’s Gurpreet Singh failed to finish the men’s 50km race walk, pulling out after the 35km mark due to cramps under hot and humid conditions.‒‒:‒‒/‒‒:‒‒ Skip
The 37-year-old, one of the lowest ranked athletes in the event, was 51st at the 35km mark. The temperature at the Sapporo Odori Park was around 25°C when the event started and rose to above 30°C when it ended after 9am local time. The humidity was at 80 per cent.
Fifty-nine athletes started but 12 either did not finish or were disqualified.
Dawid Tomala of Poland won the gold, while Jonathan Hilbert of Germany and Canada’s Evan Dunfee took the silver and bronze, respectively.
Punia coach sacked
The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) on Friday terminated the services of Deepak Punia’s Belarusian coach Murad Gaidarov after it emerged that he had assaulted a referee.
The assault led to Gaidarov’s expulsion from the Tokyo Games.
Deepak lost his 86kg bronze medal play-off on Thursday, after which Gaidarov went to the referee’s room and assaulted the referee who had officiated in the bout.
“Gaidarov is being sent back to India so that he can collect all his belongings and then leave for his country,” WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar said.
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Break historical records
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2011 Kohistan floods
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The 2011 Kohistan floods are a series of flash floods that took place throughout the month of August 2011 in the Kohistan District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in northwest Pakistan. The floods, caused by overnight heavy rains, have left at least 63 people dead and washed away dozens of houses, settlements, livestock and vegetation. [1]
The floods were the most destructive since the deadly 2010 Pakistan floods which rampaged the whole country. [citation needed]
This article about Pakistani history is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. This article about a flood is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
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Floods
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Chandrayaan-2 orbiter payloads made discovery-class findings, says ISRO
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India’s second Moon mission Chandrayaan-2 lifts off onboard GSLV Mk III-M1 launch vehicle from Satish Dhawan Space Center at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, Monday, July 22, 2019. ISRO had called off the launch on July 15 after a technical snag was detected ahead of the lift off The observations of the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter payloads have yielded discovery-class findings, according to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). There were eight scientific payloads hosted on the orbiter craft. They are: Chandrayaan-2 Large Area Soft X-ray Spectrometer (CLASS), Solar X-ray Monitor (XSM), CHandra's Atmospheric Compositional Explorer 2 (CHACE 2), Dual Frequency Synthetic Aperture Radar (DFSAR), Imaging Infra-Red Spectrometer (IIRS), Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC 2), Orbiter High Resolution Camera (OHRC), and Dual Frequency Radio Science (DFRS) experiment. Earlier this week, ISRO opened up its scientific discussions on Lunar Science to "the people of the country, to engage the Indian academia, institutes, students, and people from all disciplines and walks of life", in the form of a two-day 'Lunar Science Workshop & Release of Chandrayaan-2 Data'. The workshop commemorated the completion of two years of the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter in the lunar orbit. The events were conducted in virtual mode. ISRO Chairman and Secretary in the Department of Space (DoS) K. Sivan inaugurated the workshop and released the documents on Chandrayaan-2 science results and data products for utilisation by the scientific community. "The lunar workshop delivered the big news of bunch of discovery-class of findings by Chandrayaan-2," the Bengaluru headquartered India's national space agency said. The mass spectrometer CHACE-2, in its pursuit to conduct first-ever in-situ study of the composition of the lunar neutral exosphere from a polar orbital platform, detected and studied the variability of the Argon-40 at the middle and higher latitudes of the Moon, depicting the radiogenic activities in the mid and higher latitudes of the Lunar interior, it said. The discovery of Chromium and Manganese on the lunar surface, which are available in trace quantities, by the CLASS payload was announced. The observations of microflares of the Sun, during the quiet-Sun period, which provide important clues on the coronal heating problem of the Sun, were made by the XSM payload. The first-ever unambiguous detection of the hydration features of the Moon was achieved by Chandrayaan-2 with its infra-red spectrometer payload IIRS, which captured clear signatures of Hydroxyl and water-ice on the lunar surface, ISRO said. Read | Chandrayaan 2: A chequered story The DFSAR instrument could study the subsurface features of the Moon, detected signatures of the sub-surface water-ice, and achieved high resolution mapping of the lunar morphological features in the polar regions, it was stated. "The observations (of Chandrayaan-2 orbiter payloads) have been yielding intriguing scientific results, which are being published in peer-reviewed journals and presented in international meetings," Mr. Sivan said. Chandrayaan-2, ISRO said, has the feat of imaging the Moon from 100 km lunar orbit with "best-ever" achieved resolution of 25 cm with its OHRC. The TMC 2 of Chandrayaan-2, which is conducting imaging of the Moon at a global scale, has found interesting geologic signatures of lunar crustal shortening, and identification of volcanic domes, the ISRO said. The DFRS experiment onboard Chandrayaan-2 has studied the ionosphere of the Moon, which is generated by the solar photo-ionisation of the neutral species of the lunar tenuous exosphere, it was noted. The science data archived in Indian Space Science Data Centre (ISSDC) at Byalalu, near here, are being disseminated to public through its 'PRADAN' portal. The questions received from the academia, institutes and students were addressed by the ISRO scientists during the two-day deliberations. A panel discussion provided the opportunity to academia, institutes and students to interact with the ISRO scientists on lunar science and Chandrayaan-2, ISRO said. Chandrayaan-2 is the second spacecraft in the Indian series of Lunar exploration satellites. It comprised an orbiter, lander named Vikram and rover named Pragyan to explore the unexplored South Polar region of the Moon. It was launched on July 22, 2019 from the Sriharikota spaceport by GSLV Mk-III. It was inserted into a lunar orbit on August 20, 2019, with firing of thrusters on the orbiter. The orbiter and lander modules were separated as two independent satellites on September 2, 2019. Later, Vikram lander's descent was as planned and normal performance was observed up to an altitude of 2.1 km from Lunar surface on September seven, 2019. Subsequently, communication from the lander (with the six-wheeled Pragyan rover accommodated inside it) was lost and the lander had a hard landing on the lunar surface. A successful soft-landing would have made India the fourth country after the erstwhile Soviet Union, the United States, and China to do so, according to ISRO officials. The orbiter, placed in its intended orbit around the Moon, will enrich our understanding of the Moon's evolution and mapping of minerals and water molecules in polar regions, using its eight advanced scientific instruments, according to ISRO. The precise launch and optimised mission management have ensured a long life of almost seven years for the orbiter instead of the planned one year, it said.
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New achievements in aerospace
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WJXT’s Positively Jax effort wins national EPPY Award
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Among several awards Graham Media Group stations took home at this year’s national EPPY Awards was a win for WJXT’s Positively Jax campaign.
We are grateful that our efforts to highlight people and efforts that help others and make our community a better place to live received the group’s “Best cause marketing/corporate social responsibility campaign” award given to websites with more than 1 million impressions.
This year, there were more than 400 entries across more than 40 categories in the EPPY Awards. Those entries were from large and small world-wide media companies that include local news publishing, broadcast networks, cable news and sports networks, international pure-play websites, niche content publishers and numerous colleges and universities.
We’re in good company. Other winning websites include the Boston Globe, CNN and ESPN.
Other Graham Medial Group stations received top recognition, as well as taking the finalist spot in several categories:
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Awards ceremony
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4 Prince George County schools closing early due to countywide water issues
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PRINCE GEORGE COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — Students at Prince George High School, N.B. Clements Junior High School, Beazley Elementary School and William A. Walton Elementary School will be released early today because the school is experiencing water issues. The school district said this is countywide. Early dismissal at Prince George High School and N.B. Clements Junior High School happened at 9:30 a.m. Beazley Elementary School and Walton Elementary School will release students at 10:30 a.m. If there is not someone home to meet elementary students, the children will be returned to their school.
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Organization Closed
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Los Angeles runway disaster crash
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On the evening of February 1, 1991, USAir Flight 1493, a Boeing 737-300, collided with SkyWest Flight 5569, a Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner turboprop aircraft, upon landing at Los Angeles International Airport. [5][6] Though air traffic was not heavy at LAX, as Flight 1493 was on final approach the local controller was distracted by a series of abnormalities, including a misplaced flight progress strip and an aircraft that had inadvertently switched off the tower frequency. The SkyWest flight was told to taxi into takeoff position while the USAir flight was landing on the same runway. Upon landing, the 737 collided with the twin-engine turboprop, continued down the runway with the turboprop crushed beneath it, exited the runway, and caught fire. All 12 people aboard the smaller plane were killed, as well as an eventual total of 23 out of the 89 occupants of the Boeing. Rescue workers were on the scene of the fire within minutes and began the evacuation of the plane. Because of the intense fire, three of the 737's six exits could not be used. Neither of the front exits was usable, which caused the front passengers to try to use the overwing exits. However, only one of the overwing exits was usable, which caused a backlog to form. Most of those who died aboard the 737 succumbed to asphyxiation in the post-crash fire. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) found that the probable cause of the accident was the procedures in use at the LAX control tower, which provided inadequate redundancy, leading to a loss of situational awareness by the local controller, and inadequate oversight by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for failing to supervise the control tower managers. [1]:vi,76 The crash led directly to the NTSB's recommendation of using different runways for takeoffs and landings at LAX. USAir Flight 1493 was a scheduled service from Syracuse, New York, making stops at Washington, D.C., Columbus, Ohio, and Los Angeles (LAX), before continuing to San Francisco. [1]:1 On February 1, 1991, Flight 1493 was operated using a Boeing 737-300 (registration N388US[7]); after a crew change in Washington,[1]:1 it was under the command of Captain Colin Shaw (48), a highly experienced pilot with approximately 16,300 total flight hours (including more than 4,300 hours on the Boeing 737), and First Officer David Kelly (32), who had approximately 4,300 total flight hours, with 982 hours on the Boeing 737. [1]:82 Flying into LAX, the aircraft had a total of 89 people on board (83 passengers, 4 flight attendants, and the 2 pilots). [b]
On February 1, 1991, SkyWest Airlines Flight 5569 was operated using a twin-engine Fairchild Metroliner (registration N683AV[8]). The flight was scheduled to depart LAX on the final leg of a multi-city schedule, and was bound for Palmdale, California, with ten passengers and two pilots aboard. [1]:1 The aircraft did not carry a cockpit voice recorder (CVR) or a flight data recorder (FDR) as it was not required to do so at the time. [1]:20–21 Both of Flight 5569's pilots had significant experience; Captain Andrew Lucas (32), had approximately 8,800 flight hours (with 2,101 of them on the Metroliner), and First Officer Frank Prentice (45), had approximately 8,000 flight hours, including 1,363 hours on the Metroliner. [1]:83
LAX consists of four parallel runways, with the two runways and associated taxiways north of the terminal called the North Complex. [1]:13 Aircraft that landed on the outer runway – 24R – would cross the inner runway – 24L – in order to reach the terminal. The Air Traffic Controller (ATC) in charge of takeoffs and landings in the LAX tower (the 'local controller') was Robin Lee Wascher. She had been working as an Air traffic controller since 1982 and began working at LAX in 1989. The clearance delivery controller in charge of taxing aircraft was Francita Vandiver, who had previously served as an Air Traffic Controller in the US navy. She had been working at LAX since 1988. [1]:83
Skywest 5569 was cleared by Air Traffic Controller Wascher in the LAX tower (the 'local controller') to taxi to Runway 24L, moving from gate 32 to the runway via taxiways Kilo, 48, Tango, and 45. [1]:5[c] The plane was briefly not visible from the tower on taxiway 48 between Kilo and Tango in the area known as no man's land. Immediately prior to SkyWest 5569 reaching runway 24L, a Wings West aircraft had landed on 24R and was awaiting permission to cross 24L and taxi to the terminal. The local controller attempted to contact the Wings West aircraft but the crew had changed frequencies and did not answer, distracting Wascher as she attempted to reestablish communications. [1]:5 Shortly after 6 PM local time, as USAir 1493 was on final approach to LAX, the Metroliner was cleared by the local controller to taxi into its takeoff position on 24L at the intersection of taxiway 45, some 2,200 feet (670 m) up from the runway threshold. [9] After four attempts by the local controller, the Wings West aircraft finally responded to the tower and apologized for switching frequencies. Wascher then cleared the USAir flight to land on 24L, even though the SkyWest Metroliner was still holding in takeoff position on the runway:
With this activity ongoing, another Wings West aircraft, a Metroliner similar to SkyWest 5569, called the tower reporting they were ready for takeoff. Wascher queried this aircraft about their position, and they told her they were holding on a taxiway short of 24L. The flight progress strip for this flight had not yet been given to Wascher by controller Vandiver (another distraction), and Wascher mistakenly thought this Metroliner was SkyWest 5569 and thus the runway was clear of aircraft. The first officer of the USAir flight recalled hearing this conversation but did not remember anyone being cleared to hold on the runway. The USAir plane touched down near the runway threshold. Just as the nose was being lowered, the first officer noticed SkyWest 5569 on the runway and applied maximum braking, but it was too late. The following was recorded on the CVR:
The USAir plane slammed into the Metroliner, crushing it beneath its fuselage. The 737 proceeded to skid down the runway, then veered off the left side and came to rest on the far side of the taxiway against a closed fire station building where it eventually caught fire. [9] Large debris from the Metroliner – including its tail, wings, and right engine – were found on the runway and between the runway and the abandoned fire station. The accident was witnessed from a plane carrying the Vancouver Canucks, who were arriving for an NHL hockey game against the Los Angeles Kings. [10]
The captain of that charter aircraft, having just landed, powered up the engines to get away from the fireball of the accident. [10] The team was unsure if the USAir 737 was going to stop before it collided with their plane. [11] The Canucks were shaken by the experience and lost to the Kings by a score of 9–1, their worst loss of the 1990–91 season. [10]
The 35 dead included all 12 people (10 passengers and both crew members) on SkyWest 5569, and 23 of the 89 aboard the USAir 1493 (21 passengers, Captain Shaw, and one flight attendant). Two of the USAir fatalities were passengers who initially survived the crash, but died from burn injuries 3 and 31 days after the crash. [a]
Captain Shaw was killed when the nose of the aircraft struck the abandoned fire station, crushing the section of the cockpit[12] where his seat was located. Of the remaining passengers and crew aboard USAir 1493, 2 crew members and 10 passengers sustained serious injuries, 2 crew members and 15 passengers sustained minor injuries, and 37 passengers received no injuries. Billionaire businessman David H. Koch was among the survivors. [13][14]
The majority of fatalities aboard USAir 1493 occurred to those seated in the front of the plane, where the post-crash fire originated in the forward cargo hold, fed by a combination of fuel from the wreckage of SkyWest 5569 and gaseous oxygen from the 737's damaged crew oxygen system.
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Air crash
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2017–2018 Togolese protests
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The 2017–18 Togolese protests are a significant representation of civil unrest in Togo and against the 50 year rule of the father-son combination of Gnassingbé Eyadéma and Faure Gnassingbé. [1] The protesters demanded that the president honour the 1992 constitution, and demanding that he step down immediately. Gnassingbé offered the protesters the option of enacting the two-term limit set in the constitution effective from 2018,[2][3] thus ensuring that he could stay in power until 2030. This has been rejected by the opposition. [4] However, on 8 May 2019 the Togolese Parliament voted unanimously to accept this amendment and imposed this non-retroactive term limit on the president's office. [5]
As the protests continued, the opposition started focusing more on protesting Gnassingbé's rule. [6] Starting in August 2017, the opposition held protests on a near-weekly basis. [7] The scale of the protests have been enormous, with some estimates claiming 800,000 present at one protest in a country of 6.6 million. [4] The demonstrations are also taking place all over the country, even in the north, the traditional power base for the Gnassingbé family. [8] The Togolese government has responded to these protests by shutting down the internet. [9][10] The protesters utilised social media, with the hashtag #togodebut for publicity. [11] The protests and police response have resulted in the deaths of at least 16 people, including two soldiers. [12] In response to the protests, Gnassingbé offered some concessions to the opposition, but held onto power due to his crackdown on activists. [13]
On 19 August, thousands of protesters took to the streets, mostly in the city of Sokodé. Some protesters chanted "50 years is too long". [14] Protests also occurred in Lomé, Bafilo, Anié, and Kara. [15] Security forces shot and killed two civilians while dispersing protesters. Other civilians burned security vehicles and killed seven security men. [16] Photographs of the violence spread on social media. [14] About 27 people were arrested, and 15 protesters identified as supporters of the Pan African National Party were given jail sentences of 5–9 months. [17] Some of those arrested later said they were tortured at the headquarters of Togo's secret police, and placed in Lomé's central prison. [18]
Opposition parties called for a general strike to take place on 25 August, which slowed business and caused Lomé to enter a security lockdown. Togolese minister Gilbert Bawara criticized the strike, calling it "the campaign of terror, intimidation and threats". [19] Togolese Prime Minister Komi Sélom Klassou led a pro-government counter-protest in Lomé on 29 August. [20] Ghanaian immigration officers increased security of the Ghana–Togo border for Togolese fleeing to Ghana because of the unrest. [21]
On 5 September, in an effort to disrupt planned protests, the Togolese government cut off the internet, blocked the use of WhatsApp, and filtered international calls. [22][23] Despite this, the opposition parties CAP 2015 and the Pan-African National Party started a large three-day protest in Lomé. [24] Amnesty International estimated that about 100,000 people participated in a protest on 6 September. [25] At least 80 protesters were arrested on 7 September for "preparing to commit violent acts, vandalise shops. "[24] Security forces in Lomé fired tear gas to disperse the protesters. [26] Normal access to the internet was restored on 11 September. [25]
[27] The United Nations urged the Togolese government to address the "legitimate expectations" of the protesters. [28]
Togo's National Assembly introduced a bill meant to reform the country's electoral system and introduce presidential term limits of two five-year terms. The opposition objected to the bill's wording, saying that the term limits would not be retroactive. The opposition boycotted the National Assembly's vote on the bill on 18 September, making it subject to a referendum. [29] The next day, the Togolese government slowed down the country's internet as the opposition prepared for more protests. [30] According to Amnesty International, security forces used batons, bullets, and tear gas against protesters in Mango, killing a 9-year-old boy. [31] Security minister Damehane Yark blamed the opposition for the boy's death, saying the protesters were using weapons. [32] A picture of a cow killed by the military in the village Kparatao spread online and became a symbol of the protests. [33] The next day, opposition leaders blamed the government for repressing protests in Northern Togo, and thousands of Togolese participated in anti-government demonstrations. [34]
On 3 October, the United States embassy in Togo issued a security warning concerning transportation issues that could arise because of upcoming protests. [35] On 4 and 5 October, thousands of protesters marched through Lomé and some created barricades. In response, the Togolese government shut down internet communication and mobile access to the internet. [36][37] The Togolese government announced a ban on weekday protests on 10 October, though opposition parties said they would defy this ban. [38]
Alpha Alassane, an imam affiliated with the opposition movement, was arrested in Sokodé on 16 October for allegedly inciting violence with his followers. The arrest fueled tension between the Togolese government and the opposition. [39] A two-day protests started on 18 October throughout Togo. On the first day, four people—one in Lomé and three in Sokodé—were reportedly killed during clashes between protesters and security forces. [40][41] Yark Damehame, Togo's security minister, denied the reported deaths, saying that nobody was killed in Sokodé on this day. [42] Some protesters in Lomé formed barricades, and police fired tear gas to disperse them.
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Protest_Online Condemnation
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Hartal 1953
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Legislature
Judiciary
The Hartal 1953 (Sinhala: 1953 වර්ජනය, romanized: Varjanaya) was a country-wide demonstration of civil disobedience and strike, commonly known as a hartal, held in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) on 12 August 1953. It was organized to protest of the policies and actions of the incumbent United National Party government. It was the first mass political action in Ceylon and the first major social crisis after independence. [1] This event is of historical significance because it was the first people's struggle against an elected government in the country. Led by the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) and other leftist parties who called on the public to resist the government and demonstrate civil disobedience and strikes, the hartal was primarily a protest of the labouring class, and as such there were no exclusions based upon caste, ethnicity or religion. [2] The protests saw much sabotage and destruction to public infrastructure, as a means of frightening and halting the government. This occurred mainly in the Western, Southern and Sabaragamuwa Provinces as well as other minor protests around the rest of the island. [3] The demonstrations lasted only a day with at least 10 people killed, resulting in the resignation of the Prime Minister. In 1948 Ceylon had gained independence becoming a Dominion, and Don Stephen Senanayake becoming the first Prime Minister of Ceylon. In March 1952 Senanayake died which began a violent tussle between his son Dudley Senanayake and his nephew John Kotelawala for his succession. The Governor General at the time Lord Soulbury arbitrated in favour of his son. In the General Elections held in May later that year, Dudley Senanayake's United National Party (UNP) secured a majority in Parliament giving him the premiership. [3] However the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), and others, complained about irregularities that took place during the election and felt it had lost the most during it. [citation needed]
The people had been accustomed to there being a subsidy on rice, which was the staple diet of the island. Dating back from the rationing during World War II, the rice subsidy was issued for ration cards and over the 1940s had become a basis for the sustenance of the local population. The United National Party had promised in the 1952 election campaign to maintain the rice prices at 25 cents a measure. Soon after the election the government faced a sudden economic crisis. In July 1952 the food subsidies were running at the rate of 300 million rupees, which was a third of the estimated revenue in the planned budget for the coming year. Ceylon was depended heavily on rice exports and the global price of rice increased because of the Korean War. R. G. Senanayake, Minister of Trade and Commerce negotiated the Ceylon-China Rubber-Rice Pact, a barter systems which allowed Ceylon to trade its rubber for rice from the People's Republic of China without effecting its foreign reserves. Although the pact was opposed by J. R. Jayewardene, Finance Minister who was pro-United States which was engaged in bitter fighting with the People's Republic of China in the Korean War, pact came into effect. It did not help the government's financial position, with its trade surplus of 345 million rupees in 1951 turning into a trade deficit of 200 million rupees in 1952. [4]
On this backdrop, the government outlined its policy to cut down on food subsidy as it stated that continuing it would ruin the country in its Throne Speech on 7 July 1953. It proposed abolished the subsidy on rice, making the ration cards called the Hal potha (rice book) obsolete. This effectively increased the price of rice from 25 cents to 70 cents per measure with effect from 20 July. The price of sugar increased. Other social welfare measures were cut down to save government expenditure. Alter on 10 July the free mid-day meal for school children was withdrawn, postal fees and rail fares were increased. [4]
The proposed cuts to social welfare measures, especially the increase in rice prices were met with strong public outcry. All political parties in the opposition agitated against these measures. J. R. Jayewardene as Finance Minister in the afternoon of 23 July 1953, presented the fifth budget to parliament. A large public gathering was organized at Galle Face Green by opposition parties, presided over by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, the Leader of the Opposition. Leaders of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party and the Communist Party of Ceylon made speeches condemning government policy. A segment of supporters and workers, who attended the meeting, marched towards the Parliament screaming and gesticulating, in an attempt to storm the House. The Police baton charged and tear gassed the unruly crowds. Small groups left a trail of hooliganism: damaged public property, stoned buses, an indication of the nastiest to come, as the leaders called a hartal on August 12. Shortly a strick was called in the Colombo harbor. [4]
All political parties in the Opposition agitated against these measures brought on by the government, but only the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), the Viplavakari Lanka Sama Samaja Party (CP-VLSSP) United Front and the Federal Party called for resistance. [5] The Sri Lankan leftist parties led by the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) called for the hartal, mobilizing the masses to resist the direct attack on their standard of living. The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and Ceylon Indian Congress (CIC) supported protests against the elimination of the rice subsidy, but did not support a hartal. The Communist Party of Ceylon (CPC), who gained a seat in the 1952 elections, together with their allied party the Viplavakari Lanka Sama Samaja Party (VLSSP), also gave verbal supported to the idea of hartal, but there is disagreement about how much they participated. The more than doubling of the cost of rice was the main reason for the organizers of the hartal. [6]
The lefties parties took to agitating the working masses, with "factory gate meetings" and village level meetings in the rural areas. The two main private print-media of the day Times of Ceylon and the Lake House group, along with the state owned Radio Ceylon reported on pro-government and anti-hartal propaganda. The leftist countered with the publication of special hartal editions of weekly news sheets. 12 August 1953 saw the start of planned civil disobedience, strikes and demonstrations held throughout Ceylon, launched by the main non-communal trade unions, 90% of which were controlled by the leftist parties. However participation of employees of the health sector were discouraged knowing that it could affect the innocent patients. [2] The main complaint was the proposed elimination of the subsidy on rice, but it also included the disenfranchisement of Tamils in the 1952 election as well as other election irregularities. [N 1] Some commentators suggest that the hartal only occurred in one-third of the country. [7]
The most civil disobedience acts on 12 August took place in certain localities along the western and south-western seaboard, e.g., Maharagama, Boralesgamuwa, Gangodawila, Kirillapone, Egoda Uyana, Katukurunda, Koralawella, Waskaduwa, Karandeniya, Dompe, Akurala, Totagamuwa, Hikkaduwa, and Ragama, where there were widespread riots and extensive damage to communications and transportation facilities.
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Strike
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I’m a solar eclipse chaser – here’s what to expect from this week’s partial eclipse
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Ryan Milligan receives funding from the Science and Technology Facilities Council and NASA. Queen's University Belfast provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation UK. View all partners In December 2020, in the middle of a pandemic, I made the somewhat questionable decision to fly 11,200km from where I live in Belfast, Northern Ireland to Santiago, Chile. Then, I boarded a connecting two-hour flight and drove for a further two hours, just to experience two minutes and 20 seconds of darkness. I followed the guidelines of both the UK and Chilean governments. I got COVID-compliant travel insurance; I took a PCR test 72 hours before arriving in Chile; I wore a mask for the 15-hour flight and had my temperature taken in every building I entered. I also risked getting stranded on the other side of the world the week before Christmas, as the UK was considering banning domestic flights from England to Northern Ireland. You might wonder why I’d go through all of this. The answer? To witness the most spectacular sight in nature: a total solar eclipse. Despite my endeavour, the Chilean weather thwarted my efforts and cloud coverage denied me a glimpse of the Sun’s ethereal pearly atmosphere. This was my tenth solar eclipse trip, having previously travelled to witness eight total eclipses (one of which I missed because of clouds) and one annular eclipse. This week, there’s no travelling necessary – an eclipse will be visible from where I live. But I’m not expecting this one to be dramatic, and you shouldn’t either. Seeing a solar eclipse is a rare experience and one that drives eclipse chasers like me. Witnessing day turn to night, feeling the temperature plummet, watching birds go to roost, perhaps seeing mysterious shadow bands, feeling your hairs stand on end and the adrenaline pump through your veins for those precious few minutes is always, always worth it. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon completely obscures the Sun. This happens because the Moon is about 400 times smaller than the Sun, but also 400 times closer, giving them the same apparent size in the sky. Because the Moon’s orbit is not perfectly circular, it can sometimes appear slightly smaller than the Sun. When this alignment happens, we witness an annular eclipse – a “ring of fire” appears around the Moon because a halo of the solar disk is still visible. In an annular eclipse, the temperature barely changes, the shadows behave as you’d expect and the corona remains hidden behind the glow of sunlight. On Thursday, June 10, an annular eclipse will be visible from parts of north-east Canada, Greenland and Siberia. In the UK and Ireland, we’ll see a partial solar eclipse. About 35% of the Sun will be blocked out by the moon as viewed from Northern Ireland and Scotland, decreasing to about 20% in south-east England. Read more: Solar eclipse: a rare opportunity to bask in the moon's shadow The event begins around 10am UK time and ends around 12:30pm, depending on location. Most people will be oblivious to what’s going on above their heads, even with clear skies. To see the event at all, you will need specially approved solar eclipse glasses that reduce sunlight to safe levels. Looking directly at the Sun during anything other than totality – when the face of the Sun is completely obscured – can cause serious and irreparable eye damage. But there are other safe, indirect ways to experience the event. Using a pinhole camera (two sheets of paper or card with a small hole punched in one of them) will allow you to project an image of the Sun onto the ground or a wall. Similarly, anything with a tiny hole that can be used to create a shadow will do – a kitchen colander, the holes in a cracker, the spaces between the leaves in a tree, even cracks through gaps in your fingers can work with some patience. While Thursday’s event may prove underwhelming, even to those who see it under the best conditions, I’d urge anyone with a sense of adventure to attempt to witness a total solar eclipse at some point in their lives. The next one will be on December 4 this year. Unfortunately, it will only be visible from Antarctica. Tours start from an eye-watering £15,000 – even I might have to give that one a miss. I plan to travel to Indonesia in 2023 to see totality during a hybrid eclipse – total during part of the day, annular during the rest. The US, Mexico and Canada will experience another total solar eclipse in 2024, just seven years after one in 2017 that was only visible from the US, and was deemed to be the most-watched event in human history. Spain will host a total solar eclipse in 2026 that will again appear as a partial eclipse from the UK. But as early 20th-century eclipse chaser Rebecca Joslin said: Now eclipses are elusive and provoking things … visiting the same locality only once in centuries. Consequently, it will not do to sit down quietly at home and wait for one to come, but a person must be up and doing and on the chase.
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New wonders in nature
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1989 Gissar earthquake
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The 1989 Gissar earthquake occurred at 23:02 UTC on 22 January near Gissar in Tajikistan. The shock had a body wave magnitude of 5.3 and a maximum felt intensity of VII (Very strong) on the Mercalli intensity scale. The National Geophysical Data Center reported that the death toll from the event amounted to about 274, and the National Earthquake Information Center stated there were many injured. The earthquake was the deadliest in 1989.
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Earthquakes
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Unvaxxed ’72 Heisman winner: Fitness sped COVID-19 recovery
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OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska football great Johnny Rodgers, back home after spending more than two weeks in the hospital with COVID-19, said Tuesday he believes his superior physical condition helped him have a better outcome than many 70-year-olds who contract the coronavirus. The 1972 Heisman Trophy winner, in a telephone interview with The Associated Press from his Omaha home, acknowledged he has not been vaccinated. He said he thought a device he had installed in his home that purportedly weakens viruses, along with another type of air cleaning machine, provided him a measure of protection. “I figured with all this, I’m just fine,” Rodgers said. However, Rodgers said he now plans to get vaccinated once his doctors say he is able to do so. “At the time I had it covered,” he said, referring to the equipment in his house. “I really wasn’t around a lot of people. It was just something unexpected — like being in closed quarters for 10 hours at a time (while traveling) — that threw me for a loop. “At that particular point in time I wasn’t really that concerned about it because I was very healthy. I didn’t think I needed it. Now I think I most definitely need it. More people need it than don’t.”
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Famous Person - Recovered
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1952 Mount Gannett C-124 crash
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The 1952 Mount Gannett C-124 crash was an accident in which a Douglas C-124 Globemaster II military transport aircraft of the United States Air Force crashed into Mount Gannett, a peak in the Chugach Mountains in the American state of Alaska, on November 22, 1952. All of the 52 people on board were killed. The C-124 departed McChord Air Base in Washington state en route to Elmendorf Air Force Base near Anchorage, Alaska, with a crew of 11 and 41 Army and Air Force passengers. The flight was recorded as passing Middleton Island in the Gulf of Alaska. Around 4pm, a distress call was received by the pilot of a Northwest Orient Airlines passenger aircraft. The reception was very poor, but the Northwest captain made out the sentence: "As long as we have to land, we might as well land here. "[1] Weather near Elmendorf at the time was very bad with heavy clouds. The C-124 was flying without visual references, using just altitude, a radio beacon and a stopwatch. There was no further communication from the C-124 and it failed to arrive at Elmendorf as scheduled. [1]
The severe weather continued for three days, so searching was only able to begin on November 25. Thirty-two military aircraft searched the surrounding mountains and four Coast Guard vessels searched Prince William Sound. The wreckage of the aircraft was found on November 28, 1952, on the south side of Mount Gannett by Terris Moore from the Fairbanks Civil Air Patrol and Lieutenant Thomas Sullivan from the 10th Air Rescue Squadron. [2] The pair spotted the tail section of the C-124 sticking out of the snow at an elevation of about 8,100 feet (2,500 m), close to the summit of Mount Gannett. [1] Sullivan and Moore recorded the location as being on the Surprise Glacier, which flows south and empties into Harriman Fjord. However, the 2012 rediscovery of the remains of the aircraft at the foot of Colony Glacier, where it enters Lake George, suggests that the actual crash location was a little further north on the Mount Gannett ice field, sufficient for the debris to be carried 12 miles (19 km) down the north-flowing Colony Glacier over the subsequent 60 years. Moore, who was a mountaineer and pilot as well as president of the University of Alaska, told journalists the C-124 "obviously was flying at full speed" and appeared to have slid down the cliffs of Mount Gannett and exploded. Wreckage was spread across several acres of the glacier. Moore surmised that the pilot had narrowly missed other Chugach Range peaks during his approach. "From this I conclude he was on instrument, flying blind, and probably crashed without any warning whatsoever to him directly into the southerly face of Mt. Gannett. "[3]
Moore reported finding blood on a blanket and noted the "sickly-sweet smell of death" at the site. [2] It seemed clear that there were no survivors. Sullivan noted that recovery of remains would be very difficult as the glacier was already covered by fresh snow eight feet deep. Near the remains of the aircraft, drifted snow was piled up to hundreds of feet. Apparently, the crash had also triggered avalanches that had further buried the remains. [3] Because of the difficult conditions, the recovery effort was terminated after a week and the victims' families were told they would have no remains to bury. [4] The debris was then covered by snow and ice, and was lost for the next 60 years. At the time, this was only the second fatal accident for the C-124, and was by far the worst. However, the following year saw even more deadly crashes at Moses Lake, Washington, and Tachikawa, Japan, Overall, this was the fourth-worst accident involving a Douglas C-124. On June 9, 2012, the crew of an Alaska Army National Guard helicopter on a training mission noticed a large yellow survival raft on the surface of the Colony Glacier above Inner Lake George. [2][3][5] The site was nearly 14 miles from the 1952 crash location. [2] The National Guard sent a team on foot to examine the site and they retrieved items that were identified as being from the crashed C-124. On June 13, 2012, Deputy Chief Rick Stone, J-2 Intelligence Directorate at the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, was assigned to investigate the wreckage. [4]
On June 28, 2012, the US military announced the discovery of the wreckage. [2][6][7]
The recovery operation was then taken over by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, whose primary role is to search for US military personnel missing overseas. [4] On June 18, 2014, after two seasons of operations on the glacier, the Department of Defense announced that the remains of 17 of the victims had been identified and would be returned to their families for burial. [7] By 2019, the Department of Defense had increased the number of sets of remains identified to 40. [8]
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Air crash
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Japan's Tohoku quake and tsunami, 10 years later
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On the 10th anniversary of the March 2011 Tohoku earthquake and ensuing tsunami in northeastern Japan, the aftermath of the disaster in the region and the conditions for evacuation are being explored. The quake and tsunami claimed some 15,000 lives, while some 2,000 people were never found. A decade after the quake, post-disaster management, the state of the damaged power plant, and Japan's energy policy can be explored in five areas. What happened on March 11, 2011? At 2.46 p.m. local time (0546GMT), a 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck off Miyagi province in the northeast of the country, known as Tohoku. A 15-meter-high tsunami subsequently struck the country's Pacific coast. Fukushima nuclear power plant The tsunami engulfed the six-reactor Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) in the towns of Futaba and Okuma. Due to the quake, reactors one and three were automatically disabled and left to cool down by backup generators. However, tsunami-induced flooding caused the power supply of reactors one and five to be cut off, disrupting the cooling system. Reactors four and six on site were out of service at the time of the quake due to maintenance. As a result of overheating, successive core meltdowns occurred in reactors one and three. Hydrogen explosions occurred in the buildings where reactor one was on March 12, reactor three on March 14, and reactor four on March 15. The government declared a nuclear emergency on the day the quake struck, ordered the evacuation of those living within a three-kilometer (1.86-mile) radius of the facility. Initially, 160,000 people were evacuated. The next day, the evacuation radius around the plant was first expanded to 10 kilometers (6.21 miles) and then to 20 kilometers (12.43 miles) after hydrogen explosions in reactor one. On March 13, the number of evacuees reached 450,000. On 20 March, reactors five and six were successfully put into cool shutdown. On March 25, the number of people who lost their lives in the region exceeded 10,000. From July 1 to Sept. 9, limits were imposed on electricity consumption in eastern and northern Japan to prevent power outages due to the accident. On Dec. 21, 2011, the government and plant operator TEPCO announced a plan to shut down the plant's reactors one and four within 40 years. It was later announced that reactors five and six were included in the plan and that the plant would be permanently shut down. Reconstruction agency Fukkouco was established in February 2012 for the zoning and construction of the area. In April 2013, about 120 tons of radioactive water were found to have leaked from the plant's underground tank. Evacuation around Fukushima Evacuation orders were gradually lifted in the areas surrounding the plant as a result of natural losses of energy and a drop in radiation levels with the purification of surface soil and pollution in buildings. Currently, the total scale of the restricted zones is 337 square kilometers (130 square miles), or 30% of the total at the beginning. Due to high radiation, seven local municipalities remain forbidden zones. There are no estimates of when the ban on entry to these areas will be lifted. Reactor decommissioning The removal of all fuel rods from the depleted fuel pools in reactor four was completed in December 2014. In December 2019, the government delayed for five years the planned 2023 start of the extraction of consumed fuel from reactor pools one and two on safety grounds. The removal of fuel rods in reactor three was completed last month. The government is expected to decide how to drain 1.24 million tons of water contaminated with low-toxic radioactive tritium, which is protected in the facilities' containment tanks. The plant needs water to cool the reactors on site and has been producing large amounts of water contaminated with radiation since the earthquake in March 2011. In September-November 2022, the plant's containment tanks are set to be filled to capacity. The Japanese government is considering the option of releasing water free of most pollutants except tritium into the sea thanks to its advanced liquid processing system (ALPS). Opposition groups in the country have expressed concern that marine life could be affected by the release. Plant operator TEPCO says the process of decommissioning the reactors could take as long as 2051. Responsibility for the incident A total of 30 lawsuits filed by about 10,000 people who left the area where they lived on evacuation orders are demanding compensation from the state and TEPCO. Some courts have ruled that both the state and TEPCO were negligent in preparing for the tsunami that hit the facility. Some only ordered TEPCO to pay compensation. In May 2011, Japan halted all its commercial nuclear reactors and created the Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) in September 2012 to enforce stricter rules. New safety standards, considered mandatory for reactors to be restarted, were introduced in 2013. It is now mandatory for plant operators to build facilities that are fully protected from natural disasters and terrorist attacks, and resistant to damage such as leaking radioactive materials. Due to the high costs of new standards mandated by the government, some firms have decided to stop operating at their facilities. In August 2015, reactor one, which Kyushu Electric Power restarted in the Sendai region, became the country's first active reactor since the March 2011 accident. A total of 24 reactors are being decommissioned across the country, including six at Fukushima Daiichi. As of February 2021, nine reactors are in the process of being restarted under new safety standards. Four reactors are already in operation in the country. Japan, which ranks among the top five countries in the world in nuclear energy, announced its targets in the electricity generation pie as part of the 2030 Energy Strategy prepared in 2018. Accordingly, the country aims to have 22-24% renewable energy, 56% fossil fuel-derived energy and 20-22% nuclear energy.
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Tsunamis
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Associations Plead Govt To Let Malls Open In July Or Else 50% Of Them Will Close For Good
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The retail and mall groups said that 20 to 30% of shops in malls have been closed over the past 16 months, with 300,000 staff personnel being laid off. By Daranee Balachandar — 24 Jun 2021, 10:25 AM Associations representing Malaysian shopping mall and retail industries released a statement on Tuesday, 22 June, appealing to the government to allow them to reopen for business next month Retailers that were considered non-essential businesses were ordered to close during the latest round of the Movement Control Order (MCO) that began on 1 June.The joint statement was released by the business groups that consist of the Malaysia Shopping Mall Association, Malaysia Retailers Association, Malaysia Retail Chain Association, Bumiputera Retailers Organisation, and the Selangor and KL Electrical Home Appliances Dealers' Association, reported Malay Mail.Among the concerns expressed was that more businesses would be forced to close for good if the current restrictions were to continue in July.The business groups also emphasised that economic recovery may be a difficult feat once the COVID-19 pandemic is under control."Presently, already 20-30% of shops in malls have been closed due to the adverse conditions of the past 16 months, and with 30% of staff being laid off, this amounts to 300,000 personnel," the statement read. Image for illustration purposes only. The business groups predict that there will be another 50% of the mall and retail industry that will close their doors for good if they are not reopened in the beginning of July Retailers who risk closing for good include street-front shops, prominent domestic, and international retail brands. Their employees are also at risk of being laid off.The business groups warned that once international brands exit Malaysia, it would be twice as hard to pull them back into the country."With these massive lay-offs and shop closures, the entire retail and shopping malls industries will be grievously and critically damaged and will need massive efforts and time to rebuild the malls' ecosystem or the malls themselves will permanently close, and the retail supply chain will be deeply fractured," the statement read. They also cited the Ministry of Health (MOH) data, saying the retail and shopping sector contributed to only 0.8% of overall COVID-19 cases recorded in May "We should not be unduly penalised with closure from operating. Therefore, we believe the retail and shopping sector should be reopened immediately to provide essential and other services to the community without risk of infectivity," the business groups stressed.They argued that shopping malls only allow entry to individuals whose MySejahtera status is 'Low Risk' and display body temperature that is below 37.5ºC, reported New Straits Times.They said other than having shoppers' visits cut down to a maximum of two hours, shoppers were also diligent in practising social distancing and wearing masks.The business groups argued that shopping malls are safe places to not only stock up on necessities, but could serve as avenues of mental and physical relief. This will be especially refreshing for the public since activities involving crowds, promotional events, and congregations of any sort are banned."We appeal to the government to take all these positive factors into account in the upcoming review and allow the immediate reopening of all trades in the malls, except for those in the negative list," the groups said. Last week, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced the government's four-phase recovery plan Muhyiddin said that each phase of the recovery plan will be based on factors consisting of the daily COVID-19 case average numbers, the capacity of the public health system, and the vaccination rate of the general population."During this Phase 3, all sectors of the economy will be allowed to operate except activities listed on the negative list, such as activities that have a high risk of spreading COVID-19 or involving large crowds," he said.The prime minister believes the country will be able to reach Phase 3 by the end of August.
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Organization Closed
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Coal mine accident in China's Chongqing kills 23
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(Reuters) - Twenty-three people died after being trapped in a mine in China’s southwestern city of Chongqing, the official Xinhua news agency said on Saturday, the region’s second such accident in just over two months. The dead were among 24 people trapped underground by excessive levels of carbon monoxide gas at the Diaoshuidong coal mine, the agency said, adding that one survivor had been rescued, after more than 30 hours of search and rescue efforts. Friday’s incident, which occurred at about 5 p.m. (0900 GMT) in a mine shut for more than two months as the company dismantled underground equipment, is being investigated, it added. China on Sunday ordered local authorities to “resolutely take decisive measures to effectively stop major accidents in coal mines from happening,” according to a statement published on the website of the Ministry of Emergency Management. Officials from the State Council also urged the Chongqing government to launch a comprehensive safe production check on all coal mines, and eliminate outdated production capacity in an orderly and safe manner, the statement said. China’s mines are among the world’s deadliest, with 16 deaths reported in late September after high levels of carbon monoxide trapped miners at the Songzao coal mine in Chongqing. Diaoshuidong, built in 1975 and run since 1998 as a private enterprise, is a high-gas mine with annual capacity of 120,000 tonnes of coal, Xinhua said. In 2013, three people were killed and two injured in a hydrogen sulphide poisoning incident at the mine, it added. Reporting by Tom Daly, Andrew Galbraith and Hallie Gu; Editing by Louise Heavens, Clarence Fernandez and Emelia Sithole-Matarise
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Mine Collapses
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NATO welcomes seven new members
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On 2 April a flag-raising ceremony and a special meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers was held at NATO to celebrate the accession of Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.
At 9:30 am the flags of the seven new Allies were raised at the entrance to the Alliance’s Headquarters in Brussels as each country’s national anthem was played.
The Foreign Ministers of the current 19 members, the seven new Allies, as well as NATO staff witnessed the historic and emotional moment.
“The accession of Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia demonstrates the principle that freedom is irrepressible,” said Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, opening a special meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers, which followed the raising of the flags.
“From now on, 26 Allies will be joined in a commitment to defend each others’ security and territorial integrity. This is the strongest, most solemn commitment nations can undertake,” he added.
The historic first meeting of the 26 NATO Foreign Ministers was followed by an informal working luncheon, which focused on the preparations for the upcoming Summit meeting of NATO Heads of State and Government in Istanbul, 28 and 29 June.
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23rd Street Fire
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The 23rd Street Fire was an incident that took place in the Flatiron District neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, on October 17, 1966. A group of firefighters from the New York City Fire Department responding to a fire at 7 East 22nd Street entered a building at 6 East 23rd Street as part of an effort to fight the fire. Twelve firefighters were killed after the floor collapsed, the largest loss of life in the department's history until the collapse of the World Trade Center in the September 11 attacks of 2001. [1]
A fire was reported at 9:36 pm at the American Art Galleries, an art dealer located in a four-story brownstone at 7 East 22nd Street (just off Broadway), transmitted as Box 598. [2] A FDNY report after the incident showed that the dealer had stored highly flammable lacquer, paint, and finished wood frames in the basement. By the time the first firefighters arrived, the intensity of the smoke and heat made it impossible to enter through the 22nd Street side of the building. [3]
Firefighters attempted to approach the burning building through Wonder Drug, a store located at 6 East 23rd Street in a five-story, 45x100 commercial building that abutted the burning art dealership. As part of a recent construction project, a common cellar under the two buildings was renovated, removing a load-bearing dividing wall that had supported the floor above. The removal of the wall allowed the art dealer to increase their storage space and move some of their supplies into a space that was now under the drugstore. [3]
The building at 7 East 22nd Street had a two-story extension adjoining the rear of the building at 6 East 23rd Street. The cellar of the 22nd Street building extended about 35 feet under the drug store. The drugstore's floor was supported by 3-by-14-inch (7.6 cm × 35.6 cm) wood beams. 3⁄4 inch (19 mm) wood planking atop these beams was covered with 5 inches (130 mm) of concrete finished with terrazzo. The fire underneath the store weakened the wooden beams, while the thickness of the floor prevented firefighters from feeling the extreme heat below. [4]
A 15-by-35-foot (4.6 by 10.7 m) section of the floor collapsed at 10:39 pm, one hour and three minutes after the initial alarm was transmitted, causing ten firefighters to fall into the burning cellar. Two other firefighters on the first floor were killed in a flashover. In all, twelve firefighters were killed: two chiefs, two lieutenants, and eight firefighters. It took firefighters 14 hours to dig out the rubble and reach their dead comrades. The dead men left behind 12 widows and 32 children. [3] The fire raged to a 5th Alarm. [4]
10,000 firefighters lined Fifth Avenue on October 21, 1966, as ten firetrucks carried ten coffins to separate services at St. Thomas Protestant Episcopal Church and at St. Patrick's Cathedral. Firefighters came from as far away as the U.K., Anchorage, Los Angeles and San Francisco, the Northeast United States, and a group of 500 firefighters from Boston who had come to pay tribute. [5]
Firefighters killed in the line of duty include:
Coordinates: 40°44′27″N 73°59′20″W / 40.74083°N 73.98889°W / 40.74083; -73.98889
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Fire
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Switzerland decides to join UN
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Switzerland decides to join UN
Referendum brings centuries of political isolationism to an end
Mon 4 Mar 2002 01.10 GMT
Switzerland abandoned centuries of political isolationism yesterday by voting to join the United Nations in a cliffhanger referendum which had been billed as a battle for the country's soul.
A nationwide margin of 55% in favour and 45% against was wider than expected, but the vote by cantons - the other majority needed for the referendum to pass - was much closer. After a Yes result from the last canton to be counted, Zurich, the result was 12-11.
Supporters hailed the vote as a decision to accept the responsibilities of international engagement and to end the myth of an Alpine nirvana aloof from the world and its problems. Neutrality would continue as before, they said.
The coalition of political parties, banks, churches and newspapers which lobbied for a Yes vote was backed overwhelmingly in French-speaking and urban areas.
Lined up against them were the older, conservative, German- and Italian-speaking Swiss who feared that joining the UN would cost money, compromise sovereignty and make neutrality the plaything of the security council's five permanent members, especially the United States.
The spectre of Swiss soldiers coming home in bodybags from UN-mandated military campaigns was raised. Opponents also accused the elite of frittering away a policy which kept the country out of two world wars merely to smooth hob-nobbing in New York.
Despite Geneva being the UN's European headquarters, Switzerland has resisted joining for five decades, forming a club of two with the Vatican state. It will become the organisation's 190th member.
Yesterday's vote is expected to revive momentum for a referendum on the far more ambitious commitment of joining the European Union.
A government statement said everyone would gain from the vote, adding: "Switzerland will now be better able to safeguard its interests and assume responsibilities in the world."
The UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, welcomed the decision.
Foreign governments had hoped for a Yes vote but refrained from lobbying openly lest it backfire with the famously independent Swiss. Denis McShane, Britain's foreign minister for the UN, said history had been made and isolationists routed.
"It is a fantastic result," he said. "It is great to start the 21st century with such strong support for the UN from one of the richest countries. It sends a signal to all of the world that this very proud, neutral and rather cautious nation thinks the UN is worth joining."
The world organisation would benefit from the full engagement of the Swiss, some of the canniest diplomats, said Mr McShane.
Of the 7.2m population, 1,484,818 people voted in favour and 1,236,067 against. A 1986 referendum on UN membership was hammered three to one, but the end of the cold war drained some of the appeal from isolation and a new, more outward-looking generation emerged.
What supporters hoped would be a low-key campaign turned into a battle for national identity when Christoph Blocher, a billionaire industrialist and leader of the rightwing Swiss People's party, plastered the country with posters showing an axe sundering the word "neutrality".
UN membership will weaken Switzerland, he said after the result was announced. "Freedom and the rights of the people will be limited, and neutrality will at the very least be deeply damaged."
His concentration on the small, German-speaking cantons almost paid off, said one diplomat, adding: "He went for gut arguments which appealed to the conservative, rainy-day types, of which this country is full. In the cities there was a sense of quiet despair that he would win."
Topics
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Join in an Organization
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October 2007 California wildfires
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The October 2007 California wildfires, also known as the Fall 2007 California firestorm,[11] were a series of about thirty wildfires (17 of which became major wildfires)[4] that began igniting across Southern California on October 20. At least 1,500 homes were destroyed[12] and approximately 972,147 acres (about 3,934 km2, or 1,520 mi2) of land was burned from Santa Barbara County to the U.S.–Mexico border, surpassing the October 2003 California wildfires in scope, which were estimated to have burned 800,000 acres (3,200 km2). [1] The wildfires killed a total of 14 people, with nine of them dying directly from the fires;[13] 160 others were injured, including at least 124 firefighters. [1][14] At their height, the raging fires were visible from space. [15] These fires included the vast majority of the largest and deadliest wildfires of the 2007 California wildfire season. The only wildfire in 2007 that surpassed any of the individual October 2007 fires in size was the Zaca Fire. [16]
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in seven California counties where fires were burning. [17] President George W. Bush concurred, and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts. [18] Over 6,000 firefighters worked to fight the blazes; they were aided by units of the United States Armed Forces,[19] United States National Guard,[20] almost 3,000 prisoners convicted of non-violent crimes,[21] and 60 firefighters from the Mexican cities of Tijuana and Tecate. [22] The fires forced approximately 1,000,000 people to evacuate from their homes, becoming the largest evacuation in California's history. [23]
Major contributing factors to the extreme fire conditions were drought in Southern California, hot weather, and unusually strong Santa Ana winds, with gusts reaching 85 mph (140 km/h). [24] California's "fire season," which traditionally runs from June to October, has become a year-round threat, due to a mixture of perennial drought and the increasing number of homes built in canyons and on hillsides, surrounded by brush and forest. [25]
The fires had numerous sources. Several were triggered by power lines damaged by the high winds. One fire[which?] started when a semi-truck overturned. [28] Another[which?] was suspected to have been deliberately caused; the suspect was shot and killed in flight by state authorities. [29] A 10-year-old boy admitted that he accidentally started the Buckweed Fire by playing with matches. [30] The last active fire, the Harris, was fully extinguished on November 16, 2007, about 27 days after the series of wildfires had begun to ignite. [6] The October 2007 wildfires caused over $2 billion (2007 USD) in insured property damages.
This is a list of the named fires that ignited as part of the October 2007 California firestorm, beginning in late October 2007. Most of these wildfires were managed by Cal Fire at some point in time. [1]
Of all the wildfires, the two largest ones were located in San Diego County. The largest, the Witch Creek Fire, burned areas in north and northeast San Diego County. The second largest, the Harris Fire, burned northwest from the U.S–Mexico border towards San Diego. Officials feared that the fires could become even more destructive than the 2003 Cedar Fire[17] that burned 280,278 acres (1,134.2 km2), destroyed 2,820 buildings (including 2,232 homes), and killed 15 people (including one firefighter) before being contained on November 3, 2003. Although individually the fires did not surpass the Cedar Fire, if they had combined as one, they would have.
Residents were subjected to a mix of mandatory and voluntary evacuations, depending on the projected path of a fire. Hundreds of thousands of residents were notified of evacuations via a computerized Reverse 911 phone call system. While this alert system was mostly effective, many residents in Rancho Bernardo received the calls after they had been driven from their homes. [34] On the other hand, in Carmel Valley, only the northern half was officially evacuated, but a computer error mistakenly sent Reverse 911 calls to the southern half as well. Law enforcement officers also notified residents by driving through evacuation areas. On October 24, 2007, San Diego County Sheriff Bill Kolender stated that the number of people evacuated in San Diego county exceeded the number evacuated from New Orleans, Louisiana during Hurricane Katrina. [35]
Two days into the fires, approximately 500,000 people from at least 346,000 homes were under mandatory orders to evacuate,[36] the largest evacuation in the region's history. [37] Evacuation sites included Qualcomm Stadium,[37] as well as many schools, civic centers, and churches throughout the area. [34] The American Red Cross managed the evacuation centers. Officials estimated that 12,000 gathered at Qualcomm stadium. Volunteers provided food, blankets, water, internet services, children's toys, massages, and a live rock band performance for those at the stadium. [38] Nearly all public schools and universities in the San Diego area were closed. Many businesses closed as well. To ensure clear roads for emergency vehicles, San Diego mayor Jerry Sanders asked residents to stay home and inside. [39]
By October 23, some evacuations were lifted, allowing about 50,000 residents from the cities of Del Mar, Chula Vista, and Poway, and the San Diego neighborhoods of Del Mar Heights and Scripps Ranch to return home. [40][41][42] On October 24, more evacuation orders for parts of Rancho Bernardo and other areas further west were lifted. [43] However, the fires continued and damage was severe. The four major fires across San Diego County burned over 368,000 acres (1,490 km2) and destroyed or damaged 1,350 homes and 100 businesses since October 21, 2007. [44]
Many major roads were closed as a result of fires and smoke. On October 22, the California Highway Patrol closed Interstate 15 in both directions between State Routes 78 and 56. [34] On October 24, 2007, the Ammo (Horno) Fire forced the closure of Interstate 5 as well as the Amtrak Surfliner service between Oceanside and San Clemente. [45] Traffic from Interstate 5 was diverted to Interstate 15, which had reopened.
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Food famines in British
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Photo: The “Billionaire Raj” is preparing to turn India back from a country of hunger (on the 2020 Global Hunger Index, India is 94th out of 107 countries) to a country of famine. Child who starved to death during the Bengal famine of 1943. Source: Wikimedia Commons. Viewpoint by Justin Podur* This article was produced by Globetrotter, a project of the Independent Media Institute. TORONTO (IDN) — India’s right-wing government has been deploying all the modern tools of repression against a historic farmers’ protest. Much is at stake. For the people of India, their agricultural system is about to get far more precarious. For its farmers, ruin, and bankruptcy for millions, is all but guaranteed. For the government of Narendra Modi and his elite backers, it’s a crossroads moment; they calculate that their political power is assured for decades if they can refashion the politics of rural India and force dependency upon the farmers. The farmers are protesting because the three farm bills, which were passed by the central government in September 2020, will dismantle the state-run agricultural procurement system in Punjab and Haryana, the breadbasket states of India. In its defence, the Modi government has simultaneously claimed that the bills will enable a great modernization and also that nothing will change; the billionaires who will benefit (Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries and Gautam Adani’s Adani Group) have denied having any interest in entering the newly privatized business. The billionaires have been set loose in the henhouse. As Lucas Chancel and Thomas Piketty from the World Inequality Lab at the Paris School of Economics reported, India’s top 1 per cent in today’s “Billionaire Raj” have a similar share of the national income as the top 1 per cent did under the British Raj. The “Billionaire Raj” is preparing to turn India back from a country of hunger (on the 2020 Global Hunger Index, India is 94th out of 107 countries) to a country of famine. Agrarian Crisis Rooted in British Colonialism The roots of India’s agrarian crisis are far deeper than the three new laws. The seeds of the agrarian crisis were planted in the soil of British colonialism. Precolonial India was characterized by historian H.H. Khondker in 1986 as a moral economy, a “social arrangement which guarantees a minimum subsistence for all.” In Mike Davis’ book Late Victorian Holocausts: El Niño Famines and the Making of the Third World, he argued that “Mogul India was generally free of famine until the 1770s. There is considerable evidence, moreover, that in pre-British India before the creation of a railroad-girded national market in grain, village-level food reserves were larger, patrimonial welfare more widespread, and grain prices in surplus areas better insulated against speculation.” The Mogul state “regarded the protection of the peasant as an essential obligation,” relying on “a quartet of fundamental policies—embargos on food exports, antispeculative price regulation, tax relief and distribution of free food without a forced-labor counterpart—that were an anathema to later British Utilitarians.” The Marathas, another major pre-British power in India, forced local elites to feed the hungry during famines. The British were horrified, calling this the “enforced charity of hundreds of rich men.” The Sikh Empire ruled in Punjab, where many of the protesting farmers are from. Its rulers enacted land reforms even while fighting the Mughals and the British. Then the British East India Company took over the collection of revenues in Bengal, and the British Empire spread its tentacles across the subcontinent. Historian Navyug Gill summarized the British system as follows in an article in Outlook Magazine: the British introduced “caste-based private property, the tethering of revenue demands to cash payments, and embedding agriculture within global circuits of production and consumption… [A]ctual harvests no longer corresponded to taxation rates, and fluctuations in commodity prices meant drastic swings between modest prosperity and widespread impoverishment. A bumper crop could be rendered worthless by uncontrollable forces in far-off parts of the empire, and yet the revenue would still have to be paid. The bane of those who became peasants was being at the mercy of the state as much as the seasons.” The commodification of food followed—and so did famine. Providing insights about the extent of famines in India under the British rule, Davis’ book highlights that “[a]lthough the British insisted that they had rescued India from ‘timeless hunger,’ more than one [district] official was jolted when Indian nationalists quoted from an 1878 study published in the prestigious Journal of the Statistical Society that contrasted 31 serious famines in 120 years of British rule against only 17 recorded famines in the entire previous two millennia.” The British imposed new humiliations: “Requiring the poor to work for relief, a practice begun in 1866 in Bengal under the influence of the Victorian Poor Law, was in flat contradiction to the Bengali premise that food should be given ungrudgingly, as a father gives food to his children.” As H.H. Khondker noted, British writer W.H. Moreland in the 1923 book From Akbar to Aurangzeb “made a distinction between” “work famines” under British imperialism and precolonial “food famines.” During the pre-imperialism period, people starved because of actual food shortages. Under imperialism, people starved because they were poor, had no employment, and therefore couldn’t be fed under a Victorian morality that said you couldn’t get something for nothing. An Economist article published in 1883, which was quoted in Dan Morgan’s 1979 book Merchants of Grain: The Power and Profits of the Five Giant Companies at the Center of the World’s Food Supply, stated, “A good wheat harvest is still as much needed as ever to feed our closely packed [British] population. But it is the harvest already turning brown in the scorching sun of Canada and the Western States—the wheat already ripe in India and California, not the growth alone of the Eastern counties and of Lincolnshire, that will be summoned to feed the hungry mouth of London and Lancashire.” Mass death through starvation was the price of enabling the British Empire to build a truly global, militarized economy in grain, under which agriculture in all reaches of the globe could serve imperial designs and food itself could become a weapon. Food insecurity for the colonies purchased food security for the metropole. German poet and playwright Bertolt Brecht once wrote, “Famines do not simply occur; they are organized by the grain trade.” Development experiences between India and China are often compared and can be useful here as well. Pre-colonized China was even better organized than Mughal India. Before the 1839 Opium War, China under the Qing dynasty “had both the technology and political will to shift grain massively between regions and, thus, relieve hunger on a larger scale than any previous polity in world history,” as Davis explained in Late Victorian Holocausts. Imperialism in China led to famine there too, the largest of which occurred in 1876. The multiple Opium Wars, which forced the Chinese government to pay massive reparations to its invaders and plunderers, shattered the old food security system. The state “was reduced to desultory cash relief augmented by private donations and humiliating foreign charity,” Davis wrote. In both India and China, the years of imperialism—the commodification of grain—condemned tens of millions to death by starvation. Food Security in Independent India and China Post-Independence, newly sovereign India and China both attempted to get their countries back on the path of food security. Both efforts had initially disastrous results. China had a severe post-Independence famine from 1959 to 1961, worse even than the ones under imperialism. China corrected this trajectory and went on to eliminate hunger and, in 2018, to eradicate poverty as well, as reported at the time by Chinese writer Qin Ling and in Robert Lawrence Kuhn’s documentary film “Voices from the Frontline: China’s War on Poverty,” which was initially aired on PBS before being pulled in May 2020. In stark contrast with China, India did not have a famine since Independence but has tolerated chronic hunger. In the most famous comparison of the two countries, economists Jean Drèze and Amartya Sen wrote in their 1991 book Hunger and Public Action that: “Comparing India’s death rate of 12 per thousand with China’s of 7 per thousand, and applying that difference to the Indian population of 781 million in 1986, we get an estimate of excess normal mortality in India of 3.9 million per year. This implies that every eight years or so more people die in India because of its higher regular death rate than died in China in the gigantic famine of 1958–61. India seems to manage to fill its cupboard with more skeletons every eight years than China put there in its years of shame.” India’s National Family Health Survey for 2019-20 showed that in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat, sometimes touted as an economic model, 39 per cent of children under the age of five have had their growth stunted by malnutrition. The report is full of similar achievements, state-by-state, by the current Indian government. Approximately 25 per cent of all hungry people live in India, where around 195 million people are undernourished. Thousands per day, perhaps a million per year, die of malnutrition in India, most of whom are children. A majority of the population lives in poverty. India’s Flawed Agrarian System Navyug Gill outlined the limited nature of India’s post-Independence agrarian system in his article about the roots of the farm bill demonstrations. “[W]hat was put in place from the 1950s onwards was a system of rules, quotas and regulations meant only to minimize the worst of colonial depredations. The purpose was to mainly fulfil the growing needs of a famine-stricken country while bringing about a modicum of stability for landholders of varying sizes. In other words, the state modified and re-directed rather than transcended the tensions among national food supply, capitalist imperatives and rural wellbeing.” Let’s go into the details of these measures, using several interviews conducted in different media with agriculture researcher Devinder Sharma as our source material. From India’s independence in 1947 until the mid-1960s, India was dependent on food aid from the United States’ PL 480 program. The Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs) were established in the 1960s with the intention of getting India off of this dependence on U.S. food aid. The system was built in tandem with the U.S.-sponsored Green Revolution, which sought to use capital-intensive, high-tech, high-input techniques to increase yields. The danger was that in the absence of such a system, higher yields would lead directly to a crash in agricultural prices, the ruination of farmers, and a British Empire-style cycle of disaster. Two pieces were put in place to protect against this. First, government-run markets, the so-called “mandis,” were set up where the government would purchase the farmers’ grain at a guaranteed price (which would later be called the “minimum support price,” or MSP) if the private sector could not. Second, the government, through the Food Corporation of India (FCI), would “mop up” the surplus production in bumper crop years and move that grain to deficient areas through the public distribution system. The system worked: the Green Revolution yields did indeed materialize. The mandis raised enough in taxes to fund not only the market infrastructure but also a network of village roads and certain rural development funds. Dependence on PL 480 grain was broken. And there were no more famines. There were, however, flaws with the system. First, as environmental activist Vandana Shiva documented, the environmental effects of the Green Revolution rendered it unsustainable in the long term. Second, environmental unsustainability was matched by financial instability; the imported American model of the Green Revolution was based on saddling farmers with impossible levels of debt. There were also limitations, including a gap in procurement, as Sharma explains: despite the announcement of the MSP for 23 crops, only two (wheat and rice) are actually procured by the government—and without actual government procurement, the mere announcement of an MSP is meaningless. Infrastructural limitations also reduced the system’s effectiveness, as Sharma goes on to say: the goal was for farmers to have access to a mandi within 5 kilometres, which would have meant setting up 42,000 mandis. But in more than 50 years, only 7,000 mandis have been established. The result of these limitations is that only 6 per cent of farmers access the minimum support price (MSP), while 94 per cent are dependent on the market, explains Sharma during an interview with Newsworthy. The fact that so few farmers access the MSP is used by government proponents to argue that the farm bills are removing the last fetters on an efficient market. But, Sharma asks, while quoting figures from the National Crime Records Bureau, if the market system is so good for India’s farmers, why have 364,000 of them committed suicide since 1995? Why do farmers want an assured—and higher—MSP? The analogy with the labour market is clear enough—if the labour market were as good as free-market proponents claim, why would there be a need for a minimum wage, much less unemployment insurance? The private buyers who want to get into the government business have promised that farmers would get higher prices than the MSP from them. Devinder Sharma asked during his interview why they would have any objection at all to a minimum support price, if they planned to pay more. He points out that the state of Bihar, which did away with its APMC system in 2006, sees farmers trucking wheat and rice into Punjab and Haryana to sell at the (now threatened) minimum support price guaranteed in those states. The APMCs are accused of being government middlemen, Sharma notes. But the biggest fortunes in the world are already being amassed by middlemen “wearing a tie and a suit,” from Walmart to Amazon, who want “to replace the traditional middlemen” the government has acted as. India’s super-rich, Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani, are the picture of the American-style, well-connected, monopolist middleman. If the farm bills are not repealed, the new private grain trade will fall into their laps. Years ago, Canadian agricultural economist Ian McCreary did a study of the Indian food procurement system. In an interview on February 6, McCreary told me that after crunching three decades of numbers, he found the Indian system to be “quite successful in its objectives” of providing stable prices and food security. The government assumed the financial risks, of which there were several. On the one hand, low international prices combined with a bumper crop at home would see India trying to store grain (expensive in India) or export at a loss. On the other hand, importing in a year when prices were high could get extremely expensive. But neither of these problems could be solved by privatization, as McCreary explained: “If the government wanted to contract out the storage, they could have done that within the structure of the current system.” And even after privatization, if prices rose to the point where millions of people couldn’t afford to purchase food, the government would still be responsible for feeding them. McCreary had concluded that extending government procurement at the minimum support price to pulse crops from drier and less productive regions would benefit both farmers and those who received food through the public distribution system. While he shared concern for the farmers, McCreary was also very concerned about the food security implications of the new farm bills. “Poor consumers are going to be very vulnerable in the event of international prices being driven up.” The government weighs these implications against opportunities for Reliance and Adani to make profits in a new market. McCreary further said, “When you move from a situation where [the] market is controlled and prices operate within a defined range, to one where you’re exposed to the market, the players that buy and sell grain to arbitrage have [the] potential to make quite a bit of money.” Privatization of Grain Procurement in Canada India’s rulers look to the West for inspiration; but in fact, Western agriculture should be an inspiration to no one. The nightmarish consequences of privatized corporate agriculture are poorly understood by those who see only Western agriculture’s productivity and not its real social and environmental costs. Take the example of Canada. The privatization of government grain procurement in India today under Narendra Modi is analogous to the privatization of the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) in 2012 under Canada’s right-wing former Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Established in 1935, the CWB was a farmer-run, farmer-funded marketing agency that worked through a “single desk”—private buyers had to buy from the Wheat Board and could not negotiate prices directly with farmers. Farmers earned more. Former National Farmers Union (NFU) president Terry Boehm estimated before the privatization that “Wheat Board marketing and single-desk selling bring hundreds of millions more dollars to farmers each year than they would receive in an open market.” Like India’s system, the CWB was privatized amid half-hearted murmurings about “increased economic opportunities” for farmers through a rapid and deceitful piece of legislation—in this case, called the Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers Act. The elected board was dismissed, the assets turned over to their new owners, a joint venture called G3 Global Grain Group. Within two years of the privatization of the CWB, several of the grain companies increased their profits by billions. Like the APMC, the CWB wasn’t perfect—some farmers no doubt had believed they would do better on their own, while others complained about a lack of transparency. These farmers, Boehm says, “now labour under a system dominated by multinational grain companies that disclose almost nothing.” Ed Sagan, another NFU member, did a back-of-the-envelope calculation and concluded that an average farmer has probably lost nearly half their income since the CWB was dismantled—a figure confirmed by multiple years of Statistics Canada reports. A chart produced by the union outlines many of the depressing new realities. Meanwhile, the United States, Canada, and the EU are demanding India produce less locally and provide a bigger market for highly subsidized grain sourced from the metropole. Economist Prabhat Patnaik has noted that “diversification away from food grain production and importing food grains instead from imperialist countries has been a demand of the U.S. and EU for quite some time.” Looking Beyond the West for Solutions Neither Canada nor the United States offers any kind of model for agriculture. In the United States, farm incomes are on a continuous decline, and rural suicides are on a continuous rise. Throughout Europe and North America, agriculture is heavily subsidized, with the average U.S. farm receiving subsidies of tens of thousands per year ($61,286 in support per farmer, compared to $282 per Indian farmer, by one estimate). Indian farmers have the suicides, but they will never have the subsidies, nor will they have a fraction of the land per farmer that North American and European farmers have. The development advice given to developing countries by the IMF and World Bank for the past several decades has been to depopulate the countryside and move the people into cities. People have moved. They were living in cities at the edge of survival, and when COVID-19 hit, they found themselves unable to survive there, leading to the largest urban-to-rural migration in human history. But more than half of the people of India still make their livelihoods from agriculture, which receives a public sector investment of 0.4 per cent of GDP (compared, as Sharma points out in an interview with Enquiry, to 6 per cent of GDP in tax concessions to the corporate sector annually, a number that has only grown with recent corporate tax cuts). So what could be done? China recently eliminated rural poverty, but there is little in China’s recent experience, with dedicated government and party cadres helping individual rural families with income-generating and income-supplementing initiatives, that India can emulate. But there is no reason India couldn’t find its own way to eliminate poverty. There is much that could be done, starting with Sharma’s suggestions: The minimum support price could be extended to more crops, the price raised, and the number of mandis increased to reach the one-per-5-kilometers goal. The state of Kerala has set a minimum price of 20 per cent above the cost of production for vegetables—and the prices end up higher than they announce. In PM Modi’s own state of Gujarat, there’s a very successful dairy cooperative called Amul.
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Famine
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‘Remembrance will be difficult’: Afghanistan veterans reeling from Taliban takeover
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Former major says withdrawal has prompted some British veterans to question value of time in country Dan Sabbagh Defence and security editor Sat 13 Nov 2021 08.00 GMT Last modified on Sat 13 Nov 2021 08.02 GMT This year’s Remembrance Sunday commemorations will be the first since last summer’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan , events that have prompted many British veterans to question the value of their time in the country. One of those is Rob Shenton, a former major who has suffered from bouts of depression and PTSD, and served two tours in the country before he was medically discharged by the army in 2016 after 25 years, after a period of poor mental health. Five years into civilian life, the unexpected Taliban takeover in August prompted a fresh bout of soul-searching. “Deep down, it has affected me. I asked myself: was it worth all that effort, did it lead to my medical discharge?” he said. It has meant that this year, the 49-year-old veteran, a spokesman for the Help for Heroes charity, isn’t planning to attend the Cenotaph or any other parade on Sunday – and is calling on the public to think differently about who British veterans are today. “The number of world war two veterans is now diminishing. Today’s veterans are much younger, people who served in Iraq and Afghanistan; they could even be in their 20s. People who go to their local cenotaph should look around: there are going to be a few lost souls out there,” said Shenton, who served in the Engineering Corps. Charities reported a surge in contacts from Afghan veterans this summer as it became clear that the west’s former enemies in the country, the Taliban, were staging a high-speed takeover, culminating in the capture of Kabul. “My Afghanistan veteran patients are still fed up with the withdrawal,” said Dr Walter Busuttil, the director of research at Combat Stress, a charity that helps treat cases of PTSD. Many had now begun to come to terms with it, he said, but “the nature of the withdrawal will make remembrance this year even more difficult for some”. Read more Shenton worked as a community liaison officer in Musa Qala, Helmand on one of his tours in 2008, where he saw “post-suicide-bomb incidents – images that will always stay with you”. The tour as a whole was full of moments that were “heart-stopping, heartbreaking, heart-rending”, he added. A particularly memorable episode involved Shenton arranging the transportation of the body of an Afghan whom they had worked with, who had been killed by the Taliban. “We made the decision to respect Islamic custom and ensure he could be buried before sundown,” he said, which required a helicopter to take the body to the family. “It was not a difficult decision, but it was a difficult period. At the end of the day, he was a friend. What I just remember is, as local people were putting the body into a coffin, one of them shook my hand and said thank you.” Shenton says he felt proud of the work that he did on that tour, working closely with Afghans, and the UK Foreign Office and Overseas Development Agency, engaged in post-conflict reconstruction, and arranging the employment of locals in rebuilding programmes. “We always knew there would be a withdrawal, as long ago as 2012. But the surprise was what happened afterwards in terms of the Taliban takeover,” Shenton added, saying the events prompted an intense discussion among Afghanistan veterans at home. “There were lots of different opinions. Some said we did our job, others felt a sense of total loss; many were somewhere in the middle ground. But we’ve got to honour those people that didn’t come back – the sacrifices can’t have been in vain,” he said. However, for Shenton, the aftermath of August’s messy retreat has meant he will not be at the Cenotaph in Whitehall, where he has previously represented the Help for Heroes charity on parade, or any other formal memorial service this year. Instead, the former soldier has chosen to take part in a veterans event at a military orienteering competition in Aldershot, where “I’ll be around the armed forces community, around people who understand. Because of what’s been in the news, it’s just different.”
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Regime Change
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Man arrested for suspected armed robbery at a moneylender in Bukit Batok
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SINGAPORE: Police on Friday (Jul 9) said a 30-year-old man was arrested for his involvement in a suspected case of armed robbery at a moneylender along Bukit Batok Street 31. The authorities were alerted to the incident on Thursday at about 7.13pm, said police, with preliminary investigations revealing that the suspect is believed to have acted alone and fled the scene with about S$22,000 in cash. The suspect had allegedly showed a woman working in the unit a handwritten note saying "this is a robbery”, police said. “The suspect had also allegedly indicated that he had a knife with him in his bag,” police said. “The victim complied with the suspect’s instructions and handed over to him cash amounting to about S$22,000. The suspect subsequently fled the scene with the money.” The authorities said the robbery lasted a few minutes, after which the victim called the police. The suspect, said police, had taken “proactive steps” to conceal his identity by covering his features and avoiding leaving any evidence at the crime scene. Police said the suspect was arrested within 11 hours of the incident at Lorong 8 Geylang, following “extensive investigations” and footage from police cameras. More than 50 officers from the Jurong Police Division, Criminal Investigation Department, Police Intelligence Department, Police Operations and Command Centre, and the Public Transport Security Command were involved in the manhunt. “Cash amounting to about S$18,506, two handwritten notes and a bag were also recovered following the arrest,” police said. “Efforts are ongoing to recover the rest of the loot and the knife allegedly used during the robbery.” Investigations are ongoing. The man will be charged on Saturday with armed robbery. If convicted for armed robbery committed between 7pm and 7am, he could be jailed between three years and 14 years, and given a minimum of 12 strokes of the cane. If a deadly weapon is used, he could be given not less than 12 additional strokes of the cane.
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Bank Robbery
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Delaware News
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DOVER, Del. (July 2, 2021) – The Delaware Department of Agriculture is warning all residents about two deadly species of hemlock recently found in Sussex County. Environmental scientists have confirmed the presence of poison hemlock (Conicum maculatum) and spotted water hemlock (Cicuta maculata). All parts of the plants – leaves, stems, flowers, and roots – are poisonous to humans and animals.
Both hemlocks are in bloom from June through August. As members of the wild carrot family, both plants have small white flowers in umbrella-like groupings. People may mistake these plants for wild carrot, commonly called Queen Anne’s lace, or wild parsnip or wild celery. People who like to forage for natural foods or cut wildflowers are advised to avoid wild carrot-looking plants to prevent the possibility of being poisoned.
Both the poison hemlock and spotted water hemlock were found in wetland areas in Sussex County.
Wild Poison Hemlock plant with spotted stalk is a poisonous and toxic weed.
Leaf structure of a mature poison hemlock plant.
The stem of the poison hemlock plant, with characteristic purple spots and blotches.
Poison hemlock is also known to grow in ditches, meadows, pastures, and the edges of cultivated fields.
Poison hemlock is an invasive biennial that grows from six to eight feet tall. The stems are hairless and have purple blotches. The plant emits an odor, but people should not crush any part of the plant to smell it because toxic alkaline oils can be released, poisoning the person. Leaves are alternate, dark glossy green, fern-like, triangular, lacey with veins running through the tips of the leaf serrations.
Native to Europe, northern Africa, and western Asia, poison hemlock was introduced into the United States in the 1800s as an ornamental garden plant.
Spotted water hemlock is a native plant that grows up to six feet tall. The stems can vary in color from solid green or purple to green with purple spots or stripes. The leaves are lacey and fern-like, with veins ending at the base of the notch of the leaf edge.
If residents suspect they have found either of these plants, take a picture and email it to DDA.Marketing@delaware.gov for identification.
The stems of the spotted water hemlock can vary in color. The dusty color on the stem can rub off and cause illness.
Residents should not try to eradicate these plants themselves. Residents should find a licensed aquatic pest control company at https://de.gov/pesticides to treat for poison hemlock or spotted water hemlock. It is recommended that people wear long sleeves, long pants, and gloves when working with these toxic plants and with any unknown plant life in general. The sap can cause skin irritation or a rash in some people, and others may experience serious illness. Mowing the plants is not recommended because toxic particles can be released and inhaled in the air.
Depending on the exposure – direct contact, ingestion, and inhalation – signs and symptoms of poisoning by spotted water hemlock and poison hemlock in humans can appear as soon as 15 minutes to hours and can include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, irregular heartbeat, dilation of the pupils, respiratory distress, muscle damage, renal failure, and central nervous system involvement causing seizures, with potential for death.
If a person may have ingested either of these plants or cut one of the plants inhaling the toxic particles, call the Poison Control Center at 1-800-222-1222 or 911.
The identification and eradication of these plants are crucial in meadows and fields where livestock and horses graze. If any part of the plant is ingested, toxicity can occur in animals. All classes of livestock are susceptible to poison hemlock. Ingestion of the plant may lead to death within just 2-3 hours, depending on the amount consumed. Fresh leaves of poison hemlock are unpalatable to animals, so livestock and horses seldom eat hemlock if other feed is available.
Clinical signs in livestock usually begin within 30-60 minutes after ingestion. There is no antidote. When animals ingest the plant, the toxin affects nerve impulse transmission to the muscles, and animals die due to respiratory failure. Animals often will be found dead before the illness is determined.
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Mass Poisoning
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Jenson gets 7-year drug dealing sentence while waiting for murder trial
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Brian Christopher Jenson, awaiting trial in a North Ogden murder, has been sentenced to seven years in federal prison for dealing methamphetamine. Jenson, 30, of Brigham City, was one of nearly two dozen white supremacist gang members indicted last year by federal prosecutors in Salt Lake City for alleged drug and gun dealing. Jenson and Ryan Joseph Dash, also a white supremacist, are charged with murder in the Feb. 8, 2020, shooting death of Dalton Wood, 29. Charging documents alleged Wood had a prior conflict with Dash. Wood’s body was found with shotgun and handgun wounds. The federal charge against Jenson said he distributed 109 grams of methamphetamine on Jan. 1, 2020. He pleaded guilty in March this year, and on Oct. 12, Judge Jill Parrish ordered that he spend 84 months in prison. The judge also recommended the Bureau of Prisons not house Jenson where other white supremacist gang members are held. Parrish further ruled that Jenson must undergo intensive drug addiction therapy and receive mental health counseling. Meanwhile, he is held without bail at the Weber County Jail, pending trial on charges of first-degree felony murder, second-degree felony obstruction of justice and a third-degree felony count of use of a firearm by a restricted person. Two other local cases remain pending against Jenson. In a case related to the Wood murder, Jenson is charged with theft for allegedly stealing a safe from an elderly care center four days before the slaying. Police said the safe contained three firearms, two of which allegedly were used in Wood’s killing. Investigators said Jenson and co-conspirators allegedly threw the safe off a bridge in Brigham City after retrieving the guns. Jenson also is charged with third-degree felony damaging jails. Charging documents allege that on June 3 this year he damaged two phones, a visitation monitor, a dustpan and broom, a shower curtain and parts of the ceiling while inciting a riot in the Weber County Jail. Jenson allegedly encouraged two other inmates to break the fire sprinklers in their cells to flood the dayroom. It took jail deputies eight hours to quell the riot.
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Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence
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Coeur d'Alene, Idaho labor confrontation of 1899
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The Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, labor riot of 1899 was the second of two major labor-management confrontations in the Coeur d'Alene mining district of northern Idaho in the 1890s. Like the first incident seven years earlier, the 1899 confrontation was an attempt by union miners, led by the Western Federation of Miners to unionize non-union mines, and have them pay the higher union wage scale. As with the 1892 strike, the 1899 incident culminated in a dynamite attack that destroyed a non-union mining facility, the burning of multiple homes and outbuildings and two murders, followed by military occupation of the district. The riot of 1899 resulted from the miners' frustrations with mine operators that paid lower wages, hired Pinkerton or Thiel operatives to infiltrate the union, and the refusal of non-union miners to join or strike. Angered by wage cuts, Coeur d'Alene area miners conducted a strike in 1892. The strike erupted in violence when union miners discovered they had been infiltrated by a Pinkerton agent who had routinely provided union information to the mine owners. After several deaths, the U.S. army occupied the area and forced an end to the strike. The response to that violence, disastrous for the local miners' union, became the primary motivation for the formation of the Western Federation of Miners (WFM) the following year. Pro-union sentiment remained strong in the area, and by 1894, most of the mines were unionized, represented by the Knights of Labor. Violence erupted in the Coeur d'Alene district during the national Pullman railroad strike of 1894. Union members attacked non-union mines and workers. Forty masked men shot to death John Kneebone, who had testified against union miners in 1892. Others kidnapped a mine superintendent, and tried to blow up the powder house at the Bunker Hill mine. Urged by the mine owners, the Idaho governor requested federal troops, supposedly to prevent interruptions in railroad service along the Northern Pacific route through the Coeur d'Alene area. President Grover Cleveland sent about 700 troops in July 1894. Major General John Schofield, determined to avoid embroiling his troops in a local labor dispute as they were in 1892, directed that the Army confine its mission to keeping the railroads running, and not take orders from state or local officials. The Army patrolled the railroad lines, and reported no disturbances or local opposition. The union members, wanting to avoid another military occupation, stopped the attacks on non-union targets. The Army repeatedly reported that there were no disturbances of rail transport, and requested permission to withdraw the troops. The mine owners pressured the Cleveland administration to keep the troops in place. The mine owners eventually realized that the Army would not expand its mission beyond protecting the railroad, and dropped their opposition to withdrawal of the troops. The Army units left the Coeur d'Alene in September 1894.[1]p. 163-165
In December 1894, the Bunker Hill and Sullivan mine shut down rather than agree to the union demand of a uniform wage of $3.50 per day. The mine reopened in June 1895, with nonunion labor paying $3.00 per day to miners and $2.50 to surface employees and unskilled underground labor. The company said that whenever the combined prices of lead and silver rose again to a certain point, they would restore the old wage rate. [2]
The Bunker Hill Mining Company at Wardner was profitable, having paid more than $600,000 in dividends. [3] Miners working in the Bunker Hill and Sullivan mines were receiving fifty cents to a dollar less per day than other miners,[4] which at that time represented a significant percentage of the paycheck. The properties were the only mines in the district that were not entirely unionized. In April 1899, as the union was launching an organizing drive of the few locations not yet unionized, superintendent Albert Burch declared that the company would rather "shut down and remain closed twenty years" than to recognize the union. He then fired seventeen workers that he believed to be union members and demanded that all other union men collect their back pay and quit. [3]
The strike by the union local at Wardner was not succeeding, and the nearby WFM locals, at Gem, Burke, and Mullan, feared that the other mine owners would cut wages to match those paid at the Bunker Hill mine. During the trial, these proved to be only rumors. The other WFM locals agreed to support the strike at Wardner. The officers of the WFM locals met and planned a massive show of force for April 29. On April 29, 250 union members seized a train in Burke, northeast of Wallace; the engineer, Levi "Al" Hutton, later claimed at gunpoint. [5] At each stop through Burke Canyon, more miners climbed aboard. In Mace, a hundred men climbed aboard. At Frisco, the train stopped to load eighty wooden boxes, each containing fifty pounds (23 kg) of dynamite. At Gem, 150 to 200 more miners climbed onto three freight cars which had been added to the train. In Wallace, 200 miners were waiting, having walked seven miles (11 km) from Mullan. About a thousand men rode the train to Wardner,[6] the site of a $250,000 mill of the Bunker Hill mine. Witnesses later testified that the majority of those on the train knew nothing of any planned violence when they started out; they thought that it would be just a massive demonstration to intimidate the mine owners into recognizing the union. However, the union had distributed masks and firearms to between 100 and 200 of the men, who acted as if under military discipline. [7] The pro-union Idaho State Tribune in Wallace wrote:
County sheriff James D. Young, who had been elected with union support, had ridden to Wardner on the train with the union miners. At Wardner, Young climbed atop a rail car, and ordered the group to disperse. His order was ignored, and he later said that any further attempt to restrain the miners would have been suicidal. State prosecutors claimed that Young had been paid off by the WFM. Word had reached Wardner by telephone that the union miners were on their way, and most of the mine and mill workers had fled. The crowd ordered the remaining workers out of the Bunker Hill mine and mill. Once out, they were ordered to run, and some shots fired at them as they ran.
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Strike
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Bat Fest canceled after city denies permit for Saturday concert on Congress Avenue Bridge
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Saturday's annual Bat Fest concert event on the Congress Avenue Bridge has been canceled after city officials denied the festival's permit, event presenter Roadway Productions announced via social media on Wednesday evening. The post read, "It is with utter shock and great disappointment that we must announced that we were notified via email at 4:57 pm by the City of Austin (COA) Special Events Program Manager-Austin Center for Events, that our special event permit was denied for this Saturday's Bat Fest. Therefore we have been strong armed into cancelling our event." RELATED:Photos from Bat Fest 2019 Rapper Fetty Wap and other artists were scheduled to perform. According to city officials in a statement, the permit was denied "out of an abundance of caution" in regard to surging COVID-19 cases. "In this current environment, some events cannot provide for or implement sufficient safety and health protocols necessary to prevent the spread," the city's statement read. "Additionally, public health conditions continue to strain local medical services, including hospital resources with Intensive Care Unit (ICU) capacities. These strains can impact the City’s delivery of emergency-related services and the provision of City services required to support government functions." RELATED:ACL Fest to require negative COVID-19 test or proof of vaccination for all attendees Bat Fest's social media post claimed that their COVID-19 safety plan was previously approved by the city. Organizers also wrote that they had been in contact with the city since Aug. 11 "to communicate and make sure that our event would go on." The fest claimed that its staff was emailed by the city on Monday, "assuring us that we would have the event this Saturday." Bat Fest's post added that "all indications from the City of Austin were that we had all of our ducks in a row as we have had for the other 15 previous years for this event. Now at the 11th hour we have been denied our permit and forced to cancel. We are shocked and devastated as this is a huge financial blow and harmful to our reputation as event producers. … We feel our event has been singled out arbitrarily and discriminated against."
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Organization Closed
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1965 MGM vault fire
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The 1965 MGM vault fire was a fire that erupted in Vault 7, a storage facility, at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio (MGM) backlot (now Sony Pictures Studios) in Culver City, California, in 1965. It was caused by an electrical short explosively igniting stored nitrate film. The initial explosion reportedly killed at least one person, and the resulting fire destroyed the entire contents of the vault, archived prints of silent and early sound films produced by MGM and its predecessors. The only known copies of hundreds of films were destroyed. The storage vaults, located on Lot 3, were spaced out to prevent fire from spreading between vaults. Studio manager Roger Mayer described the vaults as "concrete bunk houses" and stated that it was considered at the time as "good storage because [the films] couldn't be stolen". The vaults were not equipped with sprinkler systems and had only a small fan in the roof for ventilation. Despite this, Mayer stated that he believed a sprinkler system would have made little difference because "the amount [the studio] lost by fire was minimal". [1]:12-13
Unlike most major studios, MGM sought to preserve its early productions, that of its predecessors Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures, and Louis B. Mayer Productions,[2]:22 and prints of films purchased for remake value. [2]:39 The studio did not participate in the common practice of purposeful destruction of its catalog and even sought to preserve films of little apparent commercial value. Beginning in the 1930s, MGM gave prints and negatives of its silent films to film archives, predominantly George Eastman House, and in the early 1960s, it began a preservation program led by Mayer to transfer nitrate film prints onto safety film. [2]:22
An electrical short explosively ignited nitrate film stored in Vault 7 located on Lot 3. The initial explosion could be heard from Lots 1 and 2, as recounted by Rudy Behlmer, who was walking between them at the time. [1]:12 Executive Roger Mayer stated that at least one person died in the explosion. [1]:12 The resulting fire destroyed the entire contents of the vault. [1]:12
Due to prior concerted efforts by MGM to preserve its catalog of silent and early sound films, the fire did not result in the total or near-total loss of its library. Despite the fire, 68% of silent films produced by MGM survived, the highest rate from any major studio. [2]:22 Nevertheless, the fire destroyed the only known copies of numerous silent films, including Lon Chaney's A Blind Bargain[1]:12 and London After Midnight, which has become highly sought-after,[3] and Greta Garbo's The Divine Woman. [1]:12
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Fire
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Steel strike of 1959
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The steel strike of 1959 was a 116-day labor union strike (July 15 – November 7, 1959) by members of the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) that idled the steel industry throughout the United States. The strike occurred over management's demand that the union give up a contract clause which limited management's ability to change the number of workers assigned to a task or to introduce new work rules or machinery which would result in reduced hours or numbers of employees. The strike's effects persuaded President Dwight D. Eisenhower to invoke the back-to-work provisions of the Taft-Hartley Act. The union sued to have the Act declared unconstitutional, but the Supreme Court upheld the law. [1]
The union eventually retained the contract clause and won minimal wage increases. On the other hand, the strike led to significant importation of foreign steel for the first time in U.S. history, which replaced the domestic steel industry in the long run. [2] The strike remained the longest work stoppage in the American steel industry until the steel strike of 1986. USWA founding president Philip Murray died in November 1952, and David J. McDonald was named acting president by the USWA executive board. Although observers[who?] felt that Murray had intended to push McDonald out of the union, his sudden death left McDonald in a position to take control. In 1953, the USWA executive board named McDonald president. [3][4]
McDonald emphasized enhanced fringe benefits. The election of Dwight Eisenhower as US president and Republican majorities in the United States Congress (at least from 1952 to 1954) made expansion of social programs unlikely, but Eisenhower indeed would extend many of Roosevelt's programs. Subsequently, McDonald focused negotiations on benefits such as unemployment compensation, health insurance, pensions, tuition reimbursement and other items. Throughout the 1950s, however, McDonald felt an intense rivalry with the United Auto Workers (UAW). The UAW often won better wage and benefit packages than the Steelworkers and were able to obtain the closed shop. McDonald's negotiating stands often reflected the interunion jealousy. [3][5]
McDonald led the Steelworkers on strike in 1956, winning substantial wage increases, unemployment benefits, layoff rights, and improved pensions. [3]
Prior to the 1959 strike, the major American steel companies were reporting high profits which led McDonald and Steelworkers general counsel Arthur J. Goldberg to request a major wage increase. Industry negotiators refused to grant a wage increase unless McDonald agreed to a substantial alteration or an elimination of Section 2(b) of the union's national master contract. [1][6][7][8]
Section 2(b) of the steelworkers' contract limited management's ability to change the number of workers assigned to a task or to introduce new work rules or machinery that would result in reduced hours or fewer employees. Management claimed that it helped featherbedding and reduced the competitiveness of the American steel industry. [1][8]
McDonald characterized management's proposals as an attempt to break the union. Negotiations broke off, and the contract expired on July 1, 1959. [6]
President Eisenhower asked both sides to extend the agreement and resume bargaining. McDonald and Goldberg offered to extend the contract by one year. They also proposed creating a joint committee to study changes to Section 2(b) and to the contract's benefit structure. Steelmakers rejected the offer. [1][7]
On July 15, 500,000 steelworkers went on strike. The strike shuttered nearly every steel mill in the country. By the end of August, the Department of Defense voiced concern that there would not be enough steel to meet national defense needs in a crisis. [1][2][7]
The AFL-CIO quickly began to pressure McDonald to end the strike. Its president, George Meany, was willing to support the strike if it did not affect national security negatively. The strike was also affecting the automaking industry, which was threatening to lay off tens of thousands of Walter Reuther's members from a steel shortage. [1][6][7][9]
On September 28, 1959, Eisenhower met privately with McDonald and Goldberg and threatened to invoke the back-to-work provisions of the Taft-Hartley Act. McDonald was unwilling to budge on Section 2(b) without other concessions from the steelmakers. The steel companies, realizing that they could wait until Eisenhower forced union members back to work, refused to make any such concessions. [1][7][8][9]
Eisenhower set in motion the Taft-Hartley machinery on October 7 and appointed a Board of Inquiry. However, Eisenhower limited the Board's mandate to clarifying the issues rather than recommending a settlement. Realizing that the strike could linger despite the use of the Taft-Hartley provisions, management offered a three-year contract with small improvements in pay and fringe benefits and binding arbitration over Section 2(b). McDonald rejected the offer. He proposed a contract similar to his proposal of early July but reduced the union's wage and benefit demands and limited the contract to two rather than three years. Working from a plan devised by Goldberg, McDonald also proposed a nine-member committee consisting of three members from labor, management, and the public to study and resolve work-rule issues. Management rejected the new proposal. [1][8][9]
The Board of Inquiry issued its final report on October 19 and declared that there was no chance of a negotiated settlement. [1][7][8]
On October 20, the Department of Justice petitioned the federal district court for western Pennsylvania for a Taft-Hartley injunction ordering the steelworkers back to work. Goldberg argued that the Taft-Hartley Act was unconstitutional, but the district court ruled for the government on October 21. However, the court agreed to a stay of the injunction until the matter was fully settled. The union appealed to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia and lost again on October 27. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari and set argument for November 3, 1959.
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Strike
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2007 Sudan floods
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On 3 July 2007, flash floods during Sudan's rainy season devastated much of the country's central, southern, and western regions. The Sudanese government referred to the floods as the "worst in living memory". [1]
An estimated 200,000 Sudanese were made homeless while 122 reportedly died. [2] The United Nations played a principal role in the ensuing recovery and relief program. As of 12 August, the emergency has caused the total or partial destruction of over 150,000 homes, leaving at least 750,000 homeless or in need of emergency shelter due to a destroyed home (according to an average of available estimates). The areas worst affected were the states of Kassala, Khartoum, North Kurdufan, Unity State, and Upper Nile. The United Nations, whilst not providing specific figures for the devastation, estimates that "well over 30,000 houses" were fully destroyed, and "at least 365,000 people" have already been directly affected, including a reported 64 dead and 335 injured. [3]
The United Nations reported on 19 August the following highlights:[4]
Within four weeks after torrential rains started to devastate many parts of the Sudan, the United Nations and partners, in support of the Government, have assisted up to half a million people affected by the floods. This includes aid of a preventive nature, designed to avert the huge risk of epidemics. David Gressly, acting United Nations Resident Coordinator in the country, stated: "Although the floods came earlier than expected, the response has been swift and successful. We had contingency measures in place, and were able to prevent further distress to the population. [But] if current flooding patterns continue unabated, the situation will deteriorate considerably". On 6 August, the United Nations reported that the following had been achieved:[5]
On 16 August, the United Nations announced that an appeal for the floods would be forthcoming. [6] The amount of the appeal, however, was not disclosed. On 20 August, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs announced that US$8.7 million had been allocated to the response, from its Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). [7] The statement also noted that US$3.8 million had already been allocated to the response from a local pooled fund. The Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator of the United Nations, Oluseyi Bajulaiye, then launched an appeal on 28 August to the international community, requesting US$20.2 million in funding for the ongoing response. [8]
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Floods
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Dustin Lynch concert at Mohegan Sun Arena canceled due to illness
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Updated: 5:34 PM EDT August 5, 2021 MONTVILLE, Conn. — The Dustin Lynch performance scheduled at Mohegan Sun Arena Thursday night has been canceled due to illness. According to Mohegan Sun's Twitter page , a member of the touring party caught an illness. The concert was canceled out of an abundance of caution. The type of illness was not given by officials. Ticketholders will receive a refund through Ticketmaster, said the Casino. Officials added if tickets were purchased through a different method, a refund will be issued through the point of purchase. Due to a case of illness in the touring party, and out of an abundance of caution, the Dustin Lynch performance at #MoheganSunArena scheduled for this evening has been cancelled. Ticketholders will receive a refund via Ticketmaster.
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Organization Closed
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Biden Declares Success in Beating Pandemic in July 4 Speech
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A triumphant President Joe Biden all but announced an end to the pandemic in the U.S. on Sunday, celebrating what he called a “heroic” vaccination campaign on the country’s Independence Day holiday.
Speaking at a party on the White House’s South Lawn with more than 1,000 people in attendance, Biden declared that the U.S. had achieved “independence” from the coronavirus, though he cautioned against complacency with more transmissible variants circulating in the country.
“Today, all across this nation, we can say with confidence: America is coming back together,” Biden said to a cheer from the invited guests. “Today, while the virus hasn’t been vanquished, we know this: It no longer controls our lives, it no longer paralyzes our nation and it’s within our power to make sure it never does so again.”
He appealed for Americans who have not yet been vaccinated to get their shots, noting that the country’s battle against the virus had been costly, with more than 603,000 Americans dead. “It’s the most patriotic thing you can do,” Biden said.
Biden’s optimistic mood reflects the plunge in coronavirus infections, hospitalizations and deaths since he took office and a rebound that has made the U.S. economy one of the strongest in the world. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday that more than 850,000 jobs were created in June. And Biden’s White House party followed a trip to Michigan on Saturday where he sought to give a political shot in the arm to Democratic allies ahead of 2022 midterm elections.
“We’re seeing record job creation and record economic growth -- the best in four decades and, I might add, the best in the world,” he said.
The White House invited hundreds of essential workers, military families and administration staff members to view the Independence Day fireworks on the South Lawn as Biden touts a government vaccination drive that has helped get at least one dose to 67% of adults in the U.S.
While Biden missed his goal of reaching 70% by July 4, the U.S. emerged as the best place to be as the world reopens, according to the latest Bloomberg Covid Resilience Ranking. The survey credits the fast and expansive U.S. vaccine rollout, dominated by highly effective mRNA shots, that stemmed what was once the world’s worst outbreak.
The challenge ahead includes the delta variant of the coronavirus, a more-transmissible mutant that’s spreading across the country, with states from New York to California reporting an increase in positive test rates.
The administration’s struggle to hit its vaccination goal by July 4 has spurred concern that the virus could continue to wreak havoc on significant swaths of the country and the economy.
The party caps a U.S. holiday weekend during which Biden and top administration officials fanned out across the country to attend baseball games, parades, barbeques and other group activities in a coordinated push billed as the “America’s Back Together” tour.
The U.S. vaccination campaign has sharply slowed as demand dries up and the Biden administration grapples with low uptake among young people and conservative states. Cases nationally have started to rise again, driven in part by delta variant outbreaks in more unvaccinated regions.
The pace of shots in the U.S. has fallen off by about two-thirds since April, with about 1.1 million now administered daily, according to the Bloomberg Vaccine Tracker. At that rate, it will take another five months for 75% of the population to be vaccinated.
Two in 10 Americans say they definitely won’t get a Covid-19 shot, up from 16% in April, according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll published Sunday.
Biden also sought to convey a message of unity on U.S. ideals entangled in partisan divisions, saying Americans deserve “the right to vote and to have that vote counted,” the right to breathe clean air and protection against discrimination, including over gender.
The tone contrasted to last year’s address by former President Donald Trump, who vowed to defeat the “radical left” and criticized efforts to remove statues of slave owners. The National Mall was largely empty after Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser urged people to stay away, though the U.S. military conducted a flyover of vintage and modern military aircraft.
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Famous Person - Give a speech
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Downtown Toledo PNC Bank robbed by male threatening violence in a note
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TOLEDO, Ohio — The FBI is seeking clues in a bank robbery that took place Friday afternoon at the PNC Bank branch on Madison Avenue downtown. The bank was robbed at 1:19 p.m. by a lone white male who presented a note threatening violence, the FBI said. The man fled the bank on foot with an undisclosed amount of money. The suspect is described as a younger white male, approximately in his late 20s, approximately 6 feet tall with a thin to average build. He wore a zippered jacket with a dark hoodie underneath, a blue medical mask, jeans and winter gloves. Law enforcement is seeking the public's assistance in the identity of the unknown suspect in surveillance photos. Tips can be provided to the FBI Toledo Resident Agency or the Toledo Police Department. Tips can remain anonymous, reward money is available for information leading to the successful identification and prosecution of the individual responsible.
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Bank Robbery
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1906 Valparaíso earthquake
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The 1906 Valparaíso earthquake hit Valparaíso, Chile, on August 16 at 19:55 local time. Its epicenter was offshore from the Valparaíso Region, and its intensity was estimated at magnitude 8.2 Mw. [2] This earthquake occurred thirty minutes after the 1906 Aleutian Islands earthquake. Much of Valparaíso was destroyed; there was severe damage in central Chile from Illapel to Talca. The earthquake was felt from Tacna to Puerto Montt. Reports said the earthquake lasted four minutes. A tsunami was also generated. The earthquake killed a reported 3,882 people. The record of previous seismic activity includes major earthquakes in 1647, 1730 and 1822. [3] The 1906 disaster was predicted by Captain Arturo Middleton, Chief of the Chilean Army Meteorological Office, in a letter that was published in El Mercurio, one week before it occurred. Admiral Luis Gómez Carreño ordered the shooting of at least 15 people, who were caught looting after the earthquake. [4] A Board for Reconstruction was formed some weeks after the earthquake. The Seismological Service of Chile was also created. Chile lies above a convergent plate boundary, an area where the Nazca Plate under the Pacific Ocean is subducted or moved beneath the South American Plate. In the region around Valparaiso, the rate of convergence is about 70 mm/yr. [5] As these two plates converge, it drives the Nazca plate with massive movements called megathrust earthquakes. The 1906 event was one of many large earthquakes in Chile along this plate boundary. Earthquakes can originate at the plate interface itself or within either the subducting or overriding plates. [citation needed]
Citing the conjunction of Neptune with the moon,[6] Captain Arturo Middleton, Chief of the Chilean Army's Meteorological Office, predicted the earthquake in a letter published in the Valparaíso newspaper El Mercurio on August 6. [7] Captain Middleton was severely criticized in the following days, and was described as "ignorant and obscurantist. "[7]
On August 16, 1906, at 19:55 local time,[8] while most Chileans were dining, a subterraneous sound was heard, and before it ended, the first tremor occurred, lasting about four minutes. [1] The second tremor occurred at 20:06 and, although it lasted only two minutes, was much more violent. [9] There were numerous aftershocks: at least 56 of them occurred during the first 24 hours after the beginning tremors. [8]
The magnitude of the earthquake has been estimated to be 8.4 ML, 8.2 Mw[10] or Ms = 8.2–8.3. The energy release has been re-evaluated with an estimated seismic moment of 2.8 x 1028, equivalent to a magnitude of 8.26 Mw . The rupture length of the earthquake has been estimated at about 200 km with a focal depth of about 40 km. [11] The focal mechanism has been assessed using contemporary seismograph records from five stations, which were published soon after the earthquake. The data suggest that the earthquake was probably along the subduction interface. Modelling of a tsunami using these source parameters shows that this earthquake was the origin of the transpacific tsunamis recorded that same day in Hawaii and Japan, rather than the almost contemporaneous 1906 Aleutian Islands earthquake. [11]
The 30-minute time gap between the Aleutian and Chilean earthquakes is thought to be coincidental, with no causal link between the two. [11]
The earthquake caused damage throughout Central Chile, from Illapel to Talca. [1] There were several destructive fires in El Almendral (from Plaza de la Victoria to Cerro Barón), Mercado Cardonal, Teatro de la Victoria (Victory Theatre), the Intendencia, the Maritime Government in Sotomayor Square and the Fiscal Dock at the port. [12]
The earthquake was also felt in Santiago, the capital of Chile. The newspaper El Mercurio reported in its August 17 edition that "the earthquake was produced in a violent way since its beginning, and provoked an indescribable panic through all the four thousands of inhabitants of Santiago and an unprecedented terror in the last years. Two or three-story buildings, even the most solid ones such as the National Congress, were swinging like a vessel in the sea. The shakings were so strong that many people thought the earth was going to open itself in deep and long strips. "[13]
According to the University of Chile, there were 3,882 deaths. [1] The earthquake left more than 20,000 injured. [12]
On August 19, Admiral Luis Gómez Carreño was appointed Plaza Port Chief. Gómez ordered the distribution of water and food, removal of corpses and demolition of buildings in risk of collapse, from a tent in Plaza de La Victoria. [4] Adm. Gómez ordered the shooting of at least 15 people who had committed crimes during the aftermath. [4]
Teatro de la Victoria before the earthquake
Teatro de la Victoria after the earthquake
Looters shot by the authorities. Despite the state of the city, authorities quickly organized themselves into relief groups. Firefighters from other cities of Chile, including Santiago, Concepción and Talcahuano, moved to Valparaíso to help the local Fire Bureau. [14] Physician José Grossi worked to counteract the plagues that followed the earthquake. [9][15]
On August 25, President Germán Riesco and President-Elect Pedro Montt arrived at Valparaíso. They arrived there by train, on foot, or horseback to survey the magnitude of the disaster. [13]
Some weeks after the earthquake, a Board for Reconstruction was formed, using money received from other countries. [4]
In 1906, the Seismological Service of Chile (Servicio Sismológico de Chile) was created. Its first chief executive was Fernand de Montessus de Ballore.
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Earthquakes
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World’s 1st Catastrophe Bond for Volcanic Eruptions Aims to Improve Disaster Relief
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The Danish Red Cross is offering the world’s first catastrophe bond for volcanic eruptions, which is designed to improve the provision and efficiency of humanitarian relief after eruptions of 10 volcanoes across three continents. The cat bond aims to raise up to $3 million from investors for aid in the aftermath of an eruption. Initial investors are three insurance linked securities (ILS) specialists, Plenum Investments, Schroder Investment Management and Solidum Partners. Sponsored by the Danish Red Cross with support from insurance group Howden Group Holdings, the cat bond catastrophe bond aims to transform the way disaster aid is activated and deployed by mobilizing humanitarian assistance from global capital markets. By using advanced modeling developed by Mitiga Solutions and blockchain technology developed by Replexus, the bond will raise humanitarian funds in advance, and allow aid to be released more quickly and effectively while offering uncorrelated returns for investors. The 10 volcanoes covered by the cat bond were selected for the significant humanitarian threat they represent, with at least 700,000 individuals living within 60 miles (100 kilometers) radius of a potential eruption. They include North America’s second highest volcano, Popocatépetl, in Mexico, and Colombia’s Nevado del Ruiz, which killed 23,000 and displaced thousands more when it erupted in 1985. The other volcanoes covered by the bond include three in Ecuador (Cotopaxi, Tungurahua and Pichincha), two in Indonesia (Merapi and Raung), one in Chile (Villa Rica), one in Guatemala (Fuego), and one in Cameroon (Mt. Cameroon). The bond is based on a trigger mechanism developed by Mitiga Solutions to set in motion a pay-out whenever a volcanic ash plume reaches a certain height and the prevailing wind directs the ash fall towards vulnerable communities. “Mitiga Solutions has developed a state-of-the-art model using numerous data inputs to predict where funds will be needed, improving both the efficiency and effectiveness of humanitarian relief,” said Alejandro Marti, CEO and co-founder of Mitiga Solutions, Barcelona-based experts in predicting natural hazards. (Editor’s note: Mitiga Solutions’ website said it is a risk management company that combines artificial intelligence, machine learning, remote sensing and high-performance computing to develop models). “Our model can anticipate the trajectory of the volcanic ash cloud using prevailing winds to better estimate the impact and more effectively guide cat bond proceeds,” Marti added. A private blockchain for the bonds has also been developed by Replexus, helping to reduce costs by $200,000-400,000 per issue compared to traditional settlement systems. “The volcano cat bond will be placed on an insurance-linked securities (ILS) blockchain, making the transaction particularly cost-effective for the aid agency and enabling secondary market trading among ILS investors,” said Cedric Edmonds, founder and CEO of Replexus, the Guernsey-based service provider that has created a platform for insurance risk securitization. (Editor’s note: Replexus’ platform is designed to replace “the illiquid reinsurance model” for ILS investments, according to the company’s website.) “Additional benefits of the blockchain structure include allowing investors to hold their own securities on their own computer server rather than using a custody bank, and therefore saving five to 10 basis points per annum on the value of the securities they hold,” added Edmonds. Charlie Langdale, managing director of Financial Lines for Howden Broking, commented: “The volcano cat bond is an important addition to the ILS market as it has the potential to revolutionize disaster relief finance. This ground-breaking innovation represents a springboard from which further products and markets can be developed.” The company has donated funds for development of the bond, via its charitable unit, Howden Group Foundation. The Foundation “is committed to supporting causes that alleviate sickness, poverty and disasters around the world,” he said. “This product will help to bridge the insurance gap and allow greater access to insurance and the capital markets for the benefit of the charitable sector and those affected by natural disasters.” Some 500 million people worldwide live near 1,500 active volcanoes, said the Danish Red Cross, indicating that the economic costs of eruptions are very high — even in developed nations. As an example, the Red Cross statement cited the 2002 eruption of Mount Etna, Europe’s biggest volcano, which caused economic losses of $900 million in the months that followed.
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Volcano Eruption
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2018 Hawaii earthquake
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On May 4, 2018, an earthquake with a magnitude of Mw 6.9[4] struck Hawaii island in the Hawaii archipelago at around 12:33 p.m. local time. [5] The earthquake's epicenter was near the south flank of Kīlauea, which has been the site of seismic and volcanic activity since late April of that year. [6] According to the United States Geological Survey the quake was related to the new lava outbreaks at the volcano,[7] and it resulted in the Hilina Slump moving about two feet. [8] It was the largest earthquake to affect Hawaii since the 1975 earthquake, which affected the same region,[9] killing two people and injuring another 28. [10]
The earthquake had a maximum strength on the Mercalli intensity scale of VIII (Severe). [11] The earthquake was preceded by a smaller event, measuring 5.4, that was felt across the island and as far away as Oahu. [12]
The earthquake produced a minor tsunami that reached a maximum height of 40 cm (15.7 in.) in Kapoho, 20 cm (7.9 in.) in Hilo and 15 cm (5.9 in.) in Honuapo. [13]
Hawaii island is affected by a large number of minor earthquakes related to the movement of magma beneath its active volcanoes. Additionally there are less frequent tectonic earthquakes that are caused either by faulting within the volcanoes or by slip along the basal detachment surface at the top of the oceanic crust associated with the gradual collapse of the island's flanks as it continues to be enlarged. [14] Near Kilauea volcano, the largest structure formed by the collapse of the southeastern flank of the island is the Hilina slump. This slump moves seaward at an average rate of 10 cm/year (3.9 in/year). The slump moved during the May 4 earthquake by about 0.6 m (2.0 ft) and has moved during previous earthquakes, such as those in 1868 and 1975. [15]
The main earthquake was preceded almost exactly an hour earlier by a Mw 5.4 foreshock with a similar epicenter and focal mechanism. [16] Analysis of seismic waveforms suggest that the mainshock was most likely caused by slip on a thrust fault dipping at 20° to the northwest beneath the southeastern flank of the volcano. [17] The mainshock was followed by four aftershocks greater than Mw 4.5 over the next 30 minutes. Smaller aftershock continued to occur for months after the main earthquake. [18]
Further analysis of Love waves, whose radiation pattern gives a greater discrimination on low-angle dips, indicate that the rupture occurred on a plane dipping at about 7°, consistent with it happening at the base of the Hawaiian volcanic rocks, where they overly sedimentary rocks on the earlier seafloor. The calculated low rupture speed is also consistent with propagation along a relatively weak zone. This would make it similar to the 1975 Kalapana earthquake. [19]
The quake damaged many buildings, caused landslides that damaged shorelines, and caused cracks in a road, causing it to be shut down. [20]
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Earthquakes
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Minneapolis Thanksgiving Day fire
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The Minneapolis Thanksgiving Day fire destroyed two buildings, covering an entire block of Downtown Minneapolis on November 25–26, 1982: the 16-story headquarters of Northwestern National Bank (now Wells Fargo) and the vacant, partially demolished location formerly occupied by Donaldson's department store, which had recently moved across the street to the new City Center mall. [1] Nobody was injured or killed as a result of the fire, though 10 firefighters were treated at hospitals. The Minneapolis Fire Department quickly determined the cause of the fire as arson. Shortly thereafter, two juveniles were arrested for setting the fire, using an acetylene torch found at the partially demolished Donaldson's site. The charges were later dropped [2]
In 1988, Northwestern National Bank (then called Norwest Corporation) constructed a 57-story César Pelli-designed headquarters on the site of the Bank building. The new headquarters is now known as the Wells Fargo Center, after Norwest merged with Wells Fargo. The Donaldson's half of the block is occupied by the Saks Fifth Avenue wing of Gaviidae Common, an upscale shopping mall. Northwestern National Bank was built in 1930 by the architecture firm of Graham, Anderson, Probst & White. [3] The building was a 16-story, 264-foot (80 m) tall steel and concrete structure. The building had an open atrium through the upper floors, which acted as a chimney for the fire. Those upper 11-12 stories of the building were gutted by the fire. The bank vaults and safe deposit boxes, located in the basement and sub-basements, were undamaged in the fire, though they could not be reached and opened for several days. Due to the severe damage to the structure resulting from the fire, it was imploded on March 11, 1984 to make way for the Norwest Center. The JCPenney's and IDS Tower buildings on adjacent blocks were connected by skyways[where? ], but firefighters were able to contain the fire and prevent it from reaching these buildings. Smoke penetrated into them, and some windows burst from the heat, though they escaped serious damage. Damages to the Donaldsons/Norwest block from the fire were estimated at $90 - $100 million, a jaw-dropping amount—about the same as the total of all fire damages in the city for the previous 15–20 years. [4] The City budget was stressed by the heavy costs for firefighters and police called to the fire, and later costs to repair the street around the block. At its peak, 85% of the Minneapolis Fire Department was battling this blaze, and fire crews from St. Paul and the Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport were called in to staff emptied fire stations around the city. In 1949, Northwestern National Bank constructed a 157-foot (48 m) high weatherball atop the bank building. [5] The weatherball became such an icon that the bank even incorporated it into its advertising and logo for a time. After the Thanksgiving Day Fire and before the building was demolished, the weatherball was dismantled and stored at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. The weatherball was never restored and, in 2000, it was scrapped. [6]
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Fire
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Congo Investigation a Chance to Fight Corruption
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Former President Joseph Kabila speaks during the state of the nation address to the National Assembly in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, file, July 19, 2018. © 2018 AP Photo/John Bompengo
Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo confirmed last week that they had opened an inquiry following allegations of high-level corruption reported by a consortium of media and international groups. Investigators from 18 countries, working with 19 media outlets and 5 nongovernmental organizations, spent months going through 3.5 million leaked documents to produce “ Congo Hold-Up ,” a stunning account of corruption under former president Joseph Kabila.
The documents, obtained by Mediapart and the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa, are from BGFIBank Group (Banque Gabonaise et Française Internationale), a private bank allegedly used to channel millions of dollars’ worth of public funds to Kabila’s family and associates.
Since November 19, “Congo Hold-Up” findings have been published almost daily, exposing a kleptocratic system that enabled the siphoning of state funds from Congo’s Central Bank , state-owned mining company Gecamines , the national electoral commission , and tax revenues.
Kabila, his family, and close associates allegedly embezzled at least US$138 million dollars over five years between 2013 and 2018. They even allegedly stole United Nations payments intended for Congolese soldiers who contributed to peacekeeping operations in the Central African Republic.
The trove of material also revealed evidence of fraud and bribery in Congo’s 2008 multi-billion dollar “deal of the century” with two Chinese state-owned mining companies. Sicomines, the joint venture formed to implement part of that deal, denied the allegations. Gecamines has not responded to the allegations.
BGFI, in a statement released on November 24, decried the leak and questioned the authenticity of the documents, but “strongly condemn[ed] acts contrary to law and ethics that may have been committed in the past” within its Congo branch “and of which its employees could possibly have been perpetrators or complicit.”
Although endemic corruption in Congo is common knowledge , the government’s lack of political will to investigate alleged wrongdoings and the opacity of financial operations have long enabled corrupt officials to enjoy impunity. However, with bank statements, contracts, emails, and transaction records on hand, “Congo Hold-Up” could provide sufficient evidence for prosecutions.
Those responsible for financial crimes, as well as their international enablers, should be held accountable. In a country where one in three people is critically hungry and the government constantly neglects basic rights such as access to running water, electricity, health care, and education, justice for large-scale corruption is long overdue.
Your tax deductible gift can help stop human rights violations and save lives around the world.
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Famous Person - Commit Crime - Investigate
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Coroner rules air pollution contributed to London schoolgirl's death
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Air pollution contributed to the death of a London schoolgirl, a coroner has ruled, in a landmark case that could push Britain to get tougher on traffic and clean up city air.
After a two-week inquest, coroner Philip Barlow said the death in 2013 of Ella Kissi-Debrah, aged nine, was caused by acute respiratory failure, severe asthma and exposure to pollution.
"I will conclude that Ella died of asthma contributed to by exposure to excessive air pollution," said Mr Barlow from Southwark Coroner's Court in south London.
He said air pollution was a "significant contributory factor" that had exacerbated her asthma, with the principal source of her exposure being traffic emissions.
Under European Union (EU) laws, the annual average concentration level of nitrogen dioxide cannot exceed 40 micrograms per cubic metre of air — a target Britain has missed for a decade.
It is unclear whether Britain will stick to that limit now it has left the EU, though the government has pledged to include air-quality targets as part of an environment bill.
The coroner said Ella Kissi-Debrah's mother, Rosamund, was not informed of the health risks of air pollution, otherwise she would have taken steps to prevent her daughter's death.
"Today was a landmark case, a 7-year fight has resulted in air pollution being recognised on Ella's death certificate. Hopefully this will mean many more children's lives being saved," she wrote on Twitter.
Ella's family had pushed for the second inquest, arguing an initial hearing in 2014 failed to consider air pollution as a possible cause of her death.
They said there was evidence to link Ella's hospital visits to illegal air pollution near her home in south London.
Campaigners and legal experts said the "historic" verdict could push the British government to get tough on air pollution.
"The coroner's unambiguous finding is a legal first and will certainly send a signal to the UK government," said Katie Nield, lawyer at environmental law charity ClientEarth, which helped the Kissi-Debrah legal team.
Larissa Lockwood, who leads Global Action Plan's clean air campaign, added: "This is a historic and a ground-breaking decision which shows the devastating impacts of air pollution and the urgent need to clean up the air we breathe.
"We hope this verdict will set a new precedent, putting air pollution higher on the agenda of our decision makers."
Global warming is already changing the world before our eyes — let's see what has happened in your lifetime, and what's in store for your future.
The United Nations says air pollution should be viewed as a matter of human rights, causing 7 million premature deaths a year, 600,000 of them children.
Prolonged exposure to pollutants can cause diabetes, lung disease and cancer, and early evidence suggests air pollution may be linked to higher death rates among COVID-19 patients.
About 40,000 deaths in Britain are linked to air pollution, according to a 2016 study by the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.
London introduced the world's largest, citywide low-emission zone, requiring diesel vehicles to meet certain standards or pay daily charges.
Low-emission zones are seen as a way to tackle traffic pollution, with about 200 in operation across Europe.
Even with the measures in place, the capital is only expected to reach legal pollution limits by 2025, according to a study by King's College London.
Britain said in November it would ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2030, part of what Prime Minister Boris Johnson dubbed a "green revolution" to cut emissions to net zero by 2050.
Reuters
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Environment Pollution
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Inside the Grey-AKQA merger: Grey and AKQA bosses open up on the deal and what's next
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Today was the AKQA Group’s first official day of existence. With 6,000 people in 50 countries boasting blue-chip clients like Coca-Cola, Netflix, Nike and Procter & Gamble—the merger of AKQA and Grey Worldwide has certainly gotten everyone’s attention. But how will its two leaders unify its employees and clients around a new, shared vision? Here’s what AKQA founder Ajaz Ahmed and Grey Worldwide CEO Michael Houston had to say. On paper it makes sense. Grey has been known for its creative storytelling and global brand-building for literally more than a century. It was founded in 1917 during World War I. Then you’ve got AKQA, which was born during the dot-com era, and is known for its groundbreaking innovation and experience design skills. Two different companies with different skillsets and even different clients—Volvo is its only shared client. So how do you bring thousands of global employees and massive client accounts together? How do you make them appreciate what the AKQA Group can now do? AKQA founder Ajaz Ahmed and Grey Worldwide chief exec Michael Houston spoke with The Drum, at length, about the behind-the-scenes preparation for the long-mooted merger as well as how they plan to drive the AKQA Group forward. Here’s what they had to say: The Drum: What was the impetus for the merger? Ajaz Ahmed: “Michael and I originally discussed this in 2018. Our shared vision was that this is the opportunity to create the world’s preeminent creative agency which would be a catalyst for growth for our people, our clients, the industry and, above all, the work. We really want to set new standards, so our organization becomes an aspirational, wonderful place to work. The other aspect that we both wanted was to have a larger canvas, and scale, to make a meaningful difference. "Grey’s storytelling prowess is absolutely unmatched. When you combine that with AKQA’s experience, design and business transformation skills, we think it’s an incredibly compelling proposition for both clients and existing and future employees. We believe in the extraordinary potential of this partnership. Our collective goal is to unlock that potential with our people and our clients.” Michael Houston: “We’re simply going to be able to execute our ideas and solutions for our clients in a way haven’t been able to before. We’ve done it in pockets, but we’ll be able to do it at greater scale.” The Drum: What do today’s clients want and how do you deliver it? Ajaz Ahmed: “One of the things clients really want is responsiveness, but their primary need in working with agencies is our creativity and new perspective. That’s really what differentiates the agencies that have a long, sustained and indispensable relationship with their clients versus the ones that are more transactional.” The Drum: What do you mean by responsiveness? Ajaz Ahmed: “Literally, it’s speed. We’ve seen how quickly the effect of the pandemic had and the need for all organizations to really pivot to another way of doing business—in a more connected and experiential way. That requires a level of speed and responsiveness. It also means the interactions that audiences have with the work need to provide use and inspiration. And if it’s inspiration, it should be work that people want to share." The Drum: This merger has been rumored for a while. Why now? Why today? Ajaz Ahmed: "What better time to do it than now? We don’t have the physical barriers of space or distance. We have incredible connectivity, working together. We used to boast at AKQA about having 29 studios in 18 countries and when the pandemic happened it suddenly became 2,000 studios in more countries. What that did is remove the physical barriers and make us more collaborative. Those barriers have been removed here with this partnership with Grey. It means we all feel like one organization." The Drum: Now that the announcement has been made, what has been already set up? What’s ready to go for your clients? Michael Houston: "Phase zero for that for us in this is a real education and internal collaboration moment. This can't be simply Ajaz and I coming together and deciding that there's a new story to tell and to try and tell the entire world that story. We believe that the culture of the organization is built from the bottom up. The people create the culture. So, we want to light as many fires as we can so that people can begin to add to the story. And that's really what we're looking at in this first phase. While many companies come out of the gate with this fully baked plan as to how everything is going to be, we are intentionally bringing our people along and having them co-create the journey with us. I know it may sound a little goofy, but it's true. And it's important to both of us that this is created from within and that people feel like they are creating the story together." The Drum: Internal buy-in is key. Can you give me an example of how you’re bringing the teams together? Ajaz Ahmed: "This announcement is something that has been shared internally with our employees. We provided detailed Frequently Asked Questions. We're having another all-hands meeting tomorrow. We have a system, so people can ask anonymous questions, in place. And we have a framework which Michael can discuss." Michael Houston: "One of the first sessions that Ajaz and I had, a long time ago, was talking about a framework and the ways in which agencies work. Aligning the goals, not only with the client, but with the people and for the work, and for our purpose in the world—under a single theme and vision. AKQA has a strong framework that they are currently working with. Ajaz and I have been talking about those things which make Grey, Grey and the way in which we approach business, in terms of cultural relevance, famously effective work and work that actually moves clients businesses. How can we take the elements of that and weave it into the framework? It's a co-created, co-owned operating system for the entire organization. We've shared the framework with a number of people at Grey and we're beginning to evolve it so that, again, it feels like it's from both organizations. It's a great blueprint for how to run the agency, to define the type of work that we want to put into the world and to ensure that everyone understands, ultimately, what our collective KPIs are and how we are going to measure what we're doing." The Drum: WPP has already been through this with Wunderman Thompson, BCW and VMLY&R. Are there any best practices in place? Michael Houston: "Ajaz and I both spent a lot of time with the groups that have already gone through this to understand exactly: what were the pitfalls? Where were the successes? What are some of the things that you learned along the way? So that we could internalize them and make sure that we weren't starting from scratch. The greatest collective takeaway from all those conversations is transparency. Transparency is absolutely key and making sure that people feel comfortable in expressing whatever discomfort or questions or hopes and aspirations that they may have and not feeling as if they need to hold those in. But that when they express those that the organization will come back with an acknowledgment of those thoughts and will address it. "The worst thing is for people to feel as if something is happening secretively behind the scenes and that they're going to be victims of whatever the decisions may be. That's not the intention that Ajaz and I have. We want our teams to feel open and positive about what this can mean for everybody." The Drum: What evolution can we expect in terms of creating an agency structure that can actually deliver the capabilities of the future that your clients want and need? Ajaz Ahmed: "It’s combining the entrepreneurship, ambition and spirit of a pioneering startup with the creative excellence and experience of a Grey. I think it's a really cool selling proposition for our clients. The other aspect is the client really wants to have much greater direct access to the creative teams. The great thing about our new organization is the vast majority of the staff are creative and the people that we're hiring are in those creative disciplines as well." Michael Houston: "One thing I would add there is, to the point of creativity, we're not in the business of making widgets. Creativity requires a certain kind of environment, and culture, in order for it to thrive. Ajaz and I are committed to creating that environment where people are respectful of one another, where people appreciate diverse perspectives and actually like the fact that there's a different point of view at the table. And yet, remain committed to getting to results. I think a lot of organizations don't know what to do when there's when there's a clash of ideas. Whereas I think that both organizations are naturally set up to thrive in those kinds of environments." The Drum: Let’s imagine we get together five years from now and everything’s gone swimmingly, where do you see the AKQA Group? Ajaz Ahmed: "There are a lot of areas that our industry needs to address when it comes to diversity, inclusion, representation. Michael and I are helping to ensure that our organization is representative of our audiences and the clients we serve. That is very important. It's also very important for us to build an organization that our people love working at and our clients are inspired by the work and the collaboration. But I think, ultimately, we have to let the work do the talking and make sure that we build on our phenomenal heritages and continue producing work that continues to define and shape the industry and hopefully create one of the most influential agencies in the world. Another really important ambition for us is that the present and new generation is interested in a great career here. We’d like them to work here because we’ve got the right values, the right purpose and we do phenomenal work." Michael Houston: The types of solutions five years from now will look wildly different than anything we currently see out there. If it looks like a slight evolution on what we're currently doing today then I don't know that we would call that success based on our ambition for the company. Because Ajaz and I both believe that this can be exponentially better, and we can have exponentially greater impact on our clients businesses. I don't have a crystal ball, but I do think we will say that success is our clients are thanking us for helping them transform their businesses, not just their communications with their constituents. The Drum: I’ve been around for a good deal of time. Am I allowed to feel sad that Grey is gone? Michael Houston: "The key here for us that we are integrating the agency, over time, in a way that it feels palatable and makes sense for our clients and market. So that being said, the way I view this is Grey has evolved many times over its 103-year history. It’s had many iterations. And I believe that the brand essence, the things that make up our North Star, those things are not going away. This is simply an evolution and evolution is necessary. And, so we're staying focused on the positive aspects of what this means for the future, and for our clients and people in the world." The Drum: This is going to happen a lot of agencies in our industry. Is there any practical advice you can offer our readers? Ajaz Ahmed: "Shared values, shared purpose and a culture with the same characteristics about contributing useful work to society — making sure that our people are engaged, and our clients are recommending us — if you have those characteristics in place, then you've got the central DNA to making it a success. Sharing our capabilities with our clients and getting reactions back has been really rewarding and motivating. Because they can see another dimension to our relationships. That new dimension just turns into a virtuous circle if we keep delivering in the way that the clients value. If we can contribute successfully to our client’s transformation and growth, then that in turn gives us the platform to keep pushing forward and hopefully making great things happen." Michael Houston: We both share the frustration of talking about ourselves, and our structure, because what we want is to jump into the work and the things that we're doing for our clients. If there's anything that I'm excited about quite frankly, it's not about this integration and the coming together of the companies, it’s getting our teams together and working together. Doing a new business pitch together. Going to our clients with different kinds of solutions that we couldn't, or didn't, go to them with yesterday. The sooner we get into the work, this will be even better than it is today.
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Organization Merge
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Geologists Find Answers to Future Tsunami Threats Embedded in the Past
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Type at least three characters to start auto complete. Recently searched locations will be displayed if there is no search query. The first option will be automatically selected. Use up and down arrows to change selection. Use escape to clear. When tsunamis mercilessly strike coastal regions, they cause an immense loss of life and property. The detection and warning for these disastrous events are only possible after seismometers detect an earthquake under the ocean floor—the usual cause of a tsunami. And given how these gigantic waves can travel at the same speed as an aeroplane, they hardly give 3-5 minutes for the people to evacuate. Even in the best-case scenario, there will still be millions who might not be able to escape in time. In the worst-case scenario, the authorities might not have time even to warn the public! Considering how coastal regions are always at a risk of something unpredictable happening, new research has been focused on finding ways to detect if a particular place is tsunami-prone. Recently, the research efforts made by a group of scientists from Japan and Virginia Tech have been rewarded! The team, led by Tina Dura, an assistant professor of coastal hazards in Virginia Tech's Department of Geosciences, decided to look into the past to predict the future. "It is still too difficult to predict when a tsunami may strike if we only consider the recent past. Some coastlines have not experienced a recent large tsunami, so we may underestimate the potential for infrequent but large and destructive tsunami events," Dura explained. The scientists hope to change that by using geological history as our guide. The study mainly focused on the coast of north-central regions of Chile near active portions of a subduction zone where several earthquakes of magnitude eight have occurred over the past century, often followed by tsunamis. "This study describes the first geologic evidence of past tsunami inundation along the north-central Chile coast. Every new tsunami deposit we describe helps paint a complete picture of how tsunamis have behaved in the past and what we can expect in the future," Tina Dura added. Since the geological records of tsunamis were scarce, it wasn't until 2015 that researchers were allowed to dig deeper and analyse the tsunami deposits left behind. On Sept. 16, 2015, a magnitude 8.3 earthquake and accompanying tsunami in north-central Chile left behind some interesting traces. "Visiting north-central Chile and seeing the tsunami evidence first hand really drove home the power of this hands-on geologic effort to understand tsunami hazards better," said DePaolis, a co-author and PhD student. "Leading the data collection and writing of the study was a big challenge, but it was made possible by a great group of collaborators from Chile and the U.S." Dura's Coastal Hazards Lab reconstructed past tsunami inundation over hundreds to thousands of years using sand beds deposited by tsunamis and preserved in coastal environments, assisting in better defining coastal hazards in a region. Scientists found that the 2015 tsunami had resulted in a younger sand bed deposit by comparing pre and post-earthquake satellite imagery. But they also found a thicker sand bed, more embedded than the younger one, indicative of an older and much stronger event. Scientists used radionuclide dating using caesium and lead to calculate the recent sedimentation rate in the wetland. The analysis revealed that the older sand bed was deposited in 1922 when a large earthquake and tsunami struck north of the study site. The timing of sand bed deposition in the wetland was further supported by an analysis of historical maps depicting the land-use history of the wetland.
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Tsunamis
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All Saints staff win teaching awards
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All Saints Catholic School staff Sherelle Oakley, Amy Whiley and Meral Incedal with their awards. - Credit: Nick Pauro Four staff members at a Dagenham school have been recognised with awards for their efforts in supporting young people. The group, from All Saints Catholic School, were honoured at the London Teacher of the Year Awards hosted by the KM Charity. Amy Whiley won her award for raising aspirations, particularly through her work during the height of the pandemic to maintain pupil engagement with their studies, online learning and through her lead on whole-school literacy. Sherelle Oakley won an award for dedication and leadership in a pastoral, safeguarding and mentoring setting. Meral Incedal's drive to inspire pupils beyond the curriculum earned her a gong as well, while Laura Agudo Pueyo won the title for overall secondary school teacher for her relentless drive to improve pupil understanding of how they learn. Headteacher Clare Cantle said: “It fills me with pride to work with and see our staff recognised for the commitment, creativity and compassion they have shown and continue to show both colleagues and pupils in the most trying of times."
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Awards ceremony
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2005 Northern Peru earthquake
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The 2005 northern Peru earthquake occurred on September 25 at 20:56 local time (01:56 UTC) with a magnitude of 7.5. It resulted in the deaths of at least five people. The epicenter was located about 100 km (62 mi) northeast of the jungle city of Moyobamba in the San Martín Region of Peru, and the earthquake struck an area about 715 km (444 mi) north of Lima. With its hypocenter located roughly 115 km (71 mi) below the surface, the quake extended itself below the Andes and was felt in a large area, including the Peruvian coastal regions and as far away as Bogotá, Colombia, as well as most of Ecuador and western Brazil. Four people had initially been reported dead by the Peruvian media, but the mayor of Lamas (near Tarapoto) confirmed that only one had died and eleven more were injured. [2] The media has reports of another fatal victim. Buildings damaged in Tarapoto, Moyobamba, Chachapoyas, Yurimaguas, Iquitos, Juanjuí, Bagua, Cajamarca, Tingo María and other cities. Power outages were reported in Bagua, Jaén, Tambogrande and Talara.
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Earthquakes
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1934 West Coast Longshore Strike
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The 1934 West Coast Waterfront Strike (also known as the 1934 West Coast Longshoremen's Strike, as well as a number of variations on these names) lasted eighty-three days, and began on May 9, 1934 when longshoremen in every US West Coast port walked out. The strike peaked with the death of two workers on "Bloody Thursday" and the San Francisco General Strike which stopped all work in the major port city for four days and led ultimately to the settlement of the West Coast Longshoremen's Strike. The result of the strike was the unionization of all of the West Coast ports of the United States. The San Francisco General Strike of 1934, along with the Toledo Auto-Lite Strike of 1934 led by the American Workers Party and the Minneapolis Teamsters Strike of 1934 led by the Communist League of America, were catalysts for the rise of industrial unionism in the 1930s, much of which was organized through the Congress of Industrial Organizations. [1]
Longshoremen on the West Coast ports had either been unorganized or represented by company unions since the years immediately after World War I, when the shipping companies and stevedoring firms had imposed the open shop after a series of failed strikes. [3] Longshoremen in San Francisco, then the major port on the coast, were required to go through a hiring hall operated by a company union, known as the "blue book" system for the color of the membership book. [4]
The Industrial Workers of the World had attempted to organize longshoremen, sailors and fishermen in the 1920s through their Marine Transport Workers Union. [5] Their largest strike, the 1923 San Pedro Maritime Strike, bottled up shipping in that harbor, but was crushed by a combination of injunctions, mass arrests and vigilantism by the American Legion. While the IWW was a spent force after that strike, syndicalist thinking remained popular on the docks. [6] Longshoremen and sailors on the West Coast also had contacts with an Australian syndicalist movement that called itself the "One Big Union" formed after the defeat of a general strike there in 1917. [7]
The Communist Party had also been active in the area in the late 1920s, seeking to organize all categories of maritime workers into a single union, the Marine Workers Industrial Union (MWIU), as part of the drive during the Third Period to create revolutionary unions. [8][9] The MWIU never made much headway on the West Coast, but it did attract a number of former IWW members and foreign-born militants. [10] Harry Bridges, an Australian-born sailor who became a longshoreman after coming to the United States, was repeatedly accused[further explanation needed] for his acknowledged Communist party membership. [11][12]
Militants published a newspaper, The Waterfront Worker, which focused on longshoremen's most pressing demands: more men on each gang, lighter loads and an independent union. [13][14] While a number of the individuals in this group were Communist Party members, the group as a whole was independent of the party: although it criticized the International Seamen's Union (ISU) as weak and the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA), which had its base on the East Coast, as corrupt, it did not embrace the MWIU, but called instead for creation of small knots of activists at each port to serve as the first step in a slow, careful movement to unionize the industry. [15]
Events soon made the MWIU wholly irrelevant. Just as the passage of the National Industrial Recovery Act had led to a spontaneous significant rise in union membership among coal miners in 1933, thousands of longshoremen now joined the fledgling ILA locals that reappeared on the West Coast. [16] The MWIU faded away as party activists followed the mass of West Coast longshoremen into the ILA. [15]
These newly emboldened workers first went after the "blue book" union, refusing to pay dues to it and tearing up their membership books. The militants who had published "The Waterfront Worker", now known as the "Albion Hall group" after their usual meeting place, continued organizing dock committees that soon began launching slowdowns and other types of job actions in order to win better working conditions. [15] While the official leadership of the ILA remained in the hands of conservatives sent to the West Coast by President Joseph Ryan of the ILA, the Albion Hall group started in March, 1934 to press demands for a coastwide contract, a union-run hiring hall and an industry wide waterfront federation. [17] When the conservative ILA leadership negotiated a weak "gentlemen's agreement" with the employers that had been brokered by the mediation board created by the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Bridges led the membership in rejecting it. [18]
The sticking point in the strike was recognition: the union demanded a closed shop, a coastwide contract and a union hiring hall. The employers offered to arbitrate the dispute, but insisted that the union agree to an open shop as a condition of any agreement to arbitrate. The longshoremen rejected the proposal to arbitrate. [19]
The strike began on May 9, 1934, as longshoremen in every West Coast port walked out; sailors joined them several days later. [20] The employers recruited strikebreakers, housing them on moored ships or in walled compounds and bringing them to and from work under police protection. [21] Strikers attacked the stockade housing strikebreakers in San Pedro on May 15; police fired into the strikers, killing one and injuring many. [specify] The killing of Dick Parker created resentment up and down the coast. [22] Daily similar smaller clashes broke out in San Francisco and Oakland, California, Portland, Oregon,[23] and Seattle, Washington. [22] Strikers also succeeded in slowing down or stopping the movement of goods by rail out of the ports. [24]
The Roosevelt administration tried again to broker a deal to end the strike, but the membership twice rejected the agreements their leadership brought to them and continued the strike. [25] The employers then decided to make a show of force to reopen the port in San Francisco. [26] On Tuesday, July 3, fights broke out along the Embarcadero in San Francisco between police and strikers while a handful of trucks driven by young businessmen made it through the picket line. [27]
Some Teamsters supported the strikers by refusing to handle "hot cargo" – goods which had been unloaded by strikebreakers – although the Teamsters' leadership was not as supportive. [28] By the end of May, Dave Beck, president of the Seattle Teamsters, and Mike Casey, president of those in San Francisco, thought the maritime strike had lasted too long. [29] They encouraged the strikers to take what they could get from the employers and threatened to use Teamsters as strikebreakers if the ILA did not return to work. [30]
Shipping companies, government officials, some union leaders and the press began to raise fears that the strike was the result of communist agitation. [31][32] This "red scare" also helped ignite a controversy about the New Deal Public Works of Art Project murals that were at the time being completed in San Francisco's Coit Tower (on Telegraph Hill, close to the location of the strike in San Francisco), leading to the postponing of the tower's July 7 opening, and later to the removal of communist symbols from two of the American Social Realism style murals. [31][32]
After a quiet Fourth of July, the employers' organization, the Industrial Association, tried to open the port of San Francisco even further on Thursday, July 5. [35] As spectators watched from Rincon Hill, the police shot tear gas canisters into the crowd, then followed with a charge by mounted police. [36] Picketers threw the canisters and rocks back at the police, who charged again, sending the picketers into retreat. [37] Each side then refortified and took stock. [38]
The events took a violent turn that afternoon, as hostilities resumed outside of the ILA strike kitchen. [39] Eyewitness accounts differ on the exact events that transpired next. According to some witnesses, a group of strikers first surrounded a police car and attempted to tip it over, prompting the police to fire shotguns in the air, and then revolvers at the crowd. [15] Other eyewitness accounts claim that police officers started shooting in the direction of the strikers, provoking strikers to defend themselves. Policemen fired a shotgun into the crowd, striking three men in intersection of Steuart and Mission streets. One of the men, Howard Sperry, a striking longshoreman, later died of his wounds. Another man, Charles Olsen, was also shot but later recovered from his wounds.
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Strike
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Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Flight 9064 crash
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Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Flight 9064 was a military flight from Bratsk Airport to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Airport with 9 passengers and 9 crew aboard. The airplane was an Ilyushin Il-76TD operated by the Border Guard Service of Russia for the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation that formerly was operated by Aeroflot to carry cargo. The aircraft's registration number was RA-76839. As Flight 9064 was at 29,000 feet, a small fire started on the right wing of the aircraft. The flight crew declared intentions to perform an emergency landing. But as the pilots tried to land, the fire on the wing got worse. The plane descended rapidly and ended up hitting trees, causing it to break into multiple pieces as it crashed. The accident killed all 18 passengers and crew. The crash site was at Novaya Inya, Russia.
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Air crash
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1884 Colchester earthquake
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The Colchester earthquake, also known as the Great English earthquake, occurred on the morning of 22 April 1884 at 09:18. [1] It caused considerable damage in Colchester and the surrounding villages in Essex. [2] In terms of overall destruction caused it is certainly the most destructive earthquake to have hit the United Kingdom in at least the last 400 years, since the Dover Straits earthquake of 1580. At 9:18 am the earthquake struck, centred mainly in the villages of Wivenhoe, Abberton, Langenhoe, and Peldon causing the surrounding area to rise and fall violently as the waves spread, lasting for around 20 seconds. Measuring 4.6 on the Richter magnitude scale, the effects were felt across England, as well as in northern France and Belgium. The earthquake damaged about 1,250 buildings,[3] including almost every building in Wivenhoe and Abberton, and in settlements all the way to Ipswich. The medieval church in Langenhoe was significantly damaged, as were those in the villages of Layer-de-la-Haye, Layer Marney, Layer Breton,[4] and Peldon. [5] In Peldon, the local newspapers claimed that every building had been damaged in some way. The Guardian reported that the earthquake was greeted with terror by the people near Colchester. There are some reports that between 3 and 5 people were killed by the earthquake, but this has been disputed by other contemporary accounts. The Times reported damage "in the many villages in the neighbourhood from Colchester to the sea coast", with many poor people made homeless, and estimated the cost of the disaster at £10,000. It did, however, mention the death of a child at Rowhedge, attributed to the earthquake. [6] Mary Saunders, of Manningtree, drowned herself in the River Stour some days later. [7] The large waves caused by the earthquake destroyed many small craft. It is believed that the earthquake resulted from movement along a fault in the ancient Palaeozoic rocks that underpin most of Essex, causing waves to propagate through the overlying Cretaceous and Tertiary layers. As is often the case, it is not always the strongest earthquakes that cause the most damage, and the British Geological Survey estimates that the 1884 earthquake's magnitude was only around 4.6 on the Richter magnitude scale, compared with 6.1 for the 1931 Dogger Bank earthquake. [8]
Langenhoe Church was badly damaged. Masonry tumbled off the tower, crashing into the roof of the nave and chancel. The nearby rectory was also damaged.
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Earthquakes
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Isaiah Brooks to be released from prison after serving two years in Zach Munday’s death
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Updated: Nov 1, 2021 / 09:01 PM EDT KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — Isaiah Brooks, one of the people convicted in the death of 15-year-old Zach Munday , was released into society Monday after serving two years in prison. Brooks, 20, will be serving the rest of his sentence on probation, starting immediately in a halfway house according to court records filed on Friday. Brooks’ attorney, T. Scott Jones, said they have made arrangements at a halfway house and are expecting his imminent release. Knox County records showed Brooks released at 6:47 p.m. Monday. “Isaiah and his family are looking forward to his assimilation into society having learned a painful lesson and now having served an appreciable sentence relative to this terrible tragedy that has destroyed multiple families. Prayers for healing for all involved,” Jones said in a statement. Police: Alcoa teen ‘snapped’ before kidnapping arrest Jones said the judge granting a Rule 35(b) motion for a reduction of sentence is rare in the legal world. According to the court documents, Judge Scott Green said the court previously sentenced Brooks the 10 years in prison , while also ‘stating it would consider reducing the length of incarceration if a timely Rule 35 Motion were filed.’ Scott Lanzon, an attorney with Hindman & Lanzon, LLC., has no involvement in Brooks’ case, but based on reading the court records said Brooks’ release from prison is different. He explained split confinement usually occurs before someone goes to jail. “It’s a middle ground for court to not send someone to prison, and gives them a chance to be rehabilitated,” Lanzon said. He said since the motion for a reduction of sentence was filed and granted, it’s understandable the process was reversed. Greenback butcher shop reprimanded for inhumane slaughter “This will allow him to get credit for the time he’s already served and go straight out to probation and be enrolled in a halfway house,” Lanzon said. Halfway houses aren’t only for people struggling with addiction. Lanzon said halfway houses are used for people who need to be reacclimated to certain rules. He explained a halfway house is like moving back in with your parents and being a teenager again, but a lot more strict. “Rather than releasing (Brooks) out into the public with less supervision and just to probation, I think what the judge is doing is trying to ensure he can be successful. So, he gets used to additional parameters, additional restrictions,” Lanzon said. Lanzon said the other difference with Brooks’ situation is he will have probation, instead of being on parole. He said usually when a prisoner is released, they follow rules set by the Tennessee Department of Corrections . In this case, Brooks will be following rules set by Judge Green and a probation officer. According to the court order, some of the conditions of Brooks’ probation will include abstaining from alcohol, no contact with the Munday family, and not being anywhere near the Munday’s home. Munday died after an incident at a party where underage drinking was involved. According to police, Brooks and Munday got into a fight at the party. Munday sustained injuries to his head, and doctors said those injuries would have been treatable had he been taken to the hospital. Lanzon said Brooks will have a heavy burden to bare once out on probation because the other part of the motion filed by Brooks’ attorney was asking the court for judicial diversion. Judge Green denied that motion, which means Brooks will forever have reckless homicide on his record. “He’s a young man who’s got the majority of his life in front of him and he will be a felon with this attached to his name forever. And not only that, he’s got 8 years left, in which he will be under the thumb,” Lanzon said. Lanzon said Judge Green is not a judge to be trifled with. He said if Brooks makes a poor decision while on probation, he will be back in prison quickly. According to the court order, Brooks serving only two years of his sentence in prison follows what the Munday family asked the court back in 2019. 6 On Your Side reached out to Munday’s family, but have not heard back yet.
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Famous Person - Commit Crime - Release
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Kivu Ebola epidemic
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The Kivu Ebola epidemic[note 2] was an outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) that ravaged the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in Central Africa from 2018 to 2020. [10] Between 1 August 2018 and 25 June 2020 it resulted in 3,470 reported cases. [11] The Kivu outbreak also affected Ituri Province, whose first case was confirmed on 13 August 2018. [9] In November 2018, the outbreak became the biggest Ebola outbreak in the DRC's history,[12][13][14] and had become the second-largest Ebola outbreak in recorded history worldwide,[11][15] behind only the 2013C2016 Western Africa epidemic. [11][16] In June 2019, the virus reached Uganda, having infected a 5-year-old Congolese boy who entered Uganda with his family,[17] but was contained. [11]
A military conflict in the region that had begun in January 2015 hindered treatment and prevention efforts. The World Health Organization (WHO) described the combination of military conflict and civilian distress as a potential "perfect storm" that could lead to a rapid worsening of the outbreak. [18][19] In May 2019, the WHO reported that since January 85 health workers had been wounded or killed in 42 attacks on health facilities. In some areas, aid organizations had to stop their work due to violence. [20] Health workers also had to deal with misinformation spread by opposing politicians. [21]
Due to the deteriorating security situation in North Kivu and surrounding areas, the WHO raised the risk assessment at the national and regional level from "high" to "very high" in September 2018. [22] In October, the United Nations Security Council stressed that all armed hostility in the DRC should come to a stop to better fight the ongoing EVD outbreak. [23][24][25] A confirmed case in Goma triggered the decision by the WHO to convene an emergency committee for the fourth time,[26][27] and on 17 July 2019, the WHO announced a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), the highest level of alarm the WHO can sound. [28]
On 15 September 2019, some slowdown of EVD cases was noted by the WHO in DRC. [29] However, contact tracing continued to be less than 100%; at the time, it was at 89%. [29] As of mid-October the transmission of the virus had significantly reduced; by then it was confined to the Mandima region near where the outbreak began, and was only affecting 27 health zones in the DRC (down from a peak of 207). [30] New cases dwindled to zero by 17 February 2020,[31] but after 52 days without a case, surveillance and response teams on the ground confirmed three new cases of Ebola in Beni health zone in mid-April. [32][33][34] On 25 June 2020, the outbreak was declared ended. [1][16]
As a new and separate outbreak, the Congolese health ministry reported on 1 June 2020 that there were cases of Ebola in quateur Province in north-western DRC, described as the eleventh Ebola outbreak since records began. [35] This separate outbreak was declared over as of 18 November following no reported cases for 42 days. [36] In total there were 130 cases and 55 deaths due to the virus. [37]
As indicated below and per numbers offered by the United Nations the final death toll was 2,280 with a total of 3,470 cases in DRC in almost a two year period. This was made very difficult due to the ongoing military attacks in the region which created a perfect storm for the virus, despite there being a vaccine. [38] rVSV-ZEBOV or Ebola Zaire vaccine live, is a vaccine that prevents Ebola caused by the Zaire ebolavirus. [39] The graph of reported cases reflects cases that were not able to have a laboratory test sample before burial as probable cases. [40]
On 1 August 2018, the North Kivu health division notified Congo's health ministry of 26 cases of hemorrhagic fever, including 20 deaths. Four of the six samples that were sent for analysis to the National Institute of Biological Research in Kinshasa came back positive for Ebola and an outbreak was declared on that date. [41][42]
The index case is believed to have been the death and unsafe burial of a 65-year-old woman on 25 July in Mangina, quickly followed by the deaths of seven close family members. [43] This outbreak started just days after the end of the outbreak in quateur province. [44][45]On 1 August, just after the Ebola epidemic had been declared, Doctors Without Borders/Mdecins Sans Frontires (MSF) arrived in Mangina, the point of origin of the outbreak, to mount a response. [46] On 2 August, Oxfam indicated it would be taking part in the response to this latest outbreak in the DRC. [47]
On 4 August, the WHO indicated that the current situation in the DRC, due to several factors, warranted a "high risk assessment" at the national and regional level for public health. [48]
By 3 August, the virus had developed in multiple locations; cases were reported in five health zones?C Beni, Butembo, Oicha, Musienene and Mabalako C in North Kivu province as well as Mandima and Mambasa in Ituri Province. [49] However, one month later there had been confirmed cases only in the Mabalako, Mandima, Beni and Oicha health zones. The five suspected cases in the Mambasa Health Zone proved not to be EVD; it was not possible to confirm the one probable case in the Musienene Health Zone and the two probable cases in the Butembo Health Zone. No new cases had been recorded in any of those health zones. [50]
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu indicated on 15 August that the outbreak then in the DRC might be worse than the West African outbreak of 2013C2016,[51] with the IRC connecting this to the ongoing Kivu conflict. [52] The Kivu outbreak was the biggest of the ten recorded outbreaks recorded in the DRC. [53]The first confirmed case in Butembo was announced on 4 September, the same day that it was announced that one of the cases registered at Beni had actually come from the Kalunguta Health Zone. [50]
In November, it was reported that the EVD outbreak ran across two provinces and 14 health zones. [40] By 23 December, the EVD outbreak had spread to more health zones, and at that time 18 such areas had been affected. [54]
On 7 August 2018, the DRC Ministry of Public Health indicated that the total count had climbed to almost 90 cases,[55] and the Uganda Ministry of Health issued an alert for extra surveillance as the outbreak was just 100 kilometres (62?mi) away from its border. [56] Two days later the total count was nearly 100 cases. [57] On 16 August, the United Kingdom indicated it would help with EVD diagnosis and monitoring in the DRC. [58]
On 17 August 2018, the WHO reported that there were around 1,500 "contacts", while noting that certain conflict zones in the DRC that could not be reached might have contained more contacts. [59] Some 954 contacts were successfully followed up on 18 August; however, Mandima Health Zone indicated resistance, so contacts were not followed up there. [60]On 4 September, Butembo, a city with almost one million people and an international airport, recorded its first fatality in the Ebola outbreak. The city of Butembo, in the DRC, has trade links to nearby Uganda. [61][50]
On 24 September, it was reported that all contact tracing and vaccinations would stop for the foreseeable future in Beni due to a deadly attack by rebel groups the day before. [62] On 25 September, Peter Salama of the WHO indicated that insecurity was obstructing efforts to stop the virus and believed a combination of factors could establish conditions for an epidemic.
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Disease Outbreaks
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Man and woman sought after 2 armed bank robberies committed hours apart in Burnaby
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The Vancity Credit Union branch at Market Crossing in Burnaby, B.C., is seen in an undated Google Maps image. VANCOUVER -- Police are searching for suspects following two armed bank robberies in Burnaby, B.C., that were committed within a few hours of each other on Thursday. The first robbery was reported shortly after 10 a.m. at the Vancity Credit Union branch at Market Crossing, where a man allegedly demanded cash while carrying what appeared to be a handgun. The second happened around 3:20 p.m. at the Westminster Savings Credit Union on Kingsway Avenue, where a woman with a gun "threatened bank staff," Burnaby RCMP said in a news release. In both robberies, authorities said the suspects fled the scene before officers arrived. Police did not reveal how much money was taken, if any. Burnaby RCMP's Strike Force Team has taken over the investigation into the robberies, and will be "thoroughly examining surveillance video, interviewing witnesses and gathering evidence" to identify the suspects, the detachment said. The first suspect was described as white, approximately 6' tall and 35-45 years old. Police said he was wearing a black toque, black facemask, black jacket and blue jeans. The woman was described as white, about 5'3" tall and 30-40 years old. She was wearing a dark toque, dark facemask and black jacket, police said. Authorities asked anyone with information on either robbery to call the Burnaby RCMP non-emergency line at 604-646-9999. Tipsters who want to remain anonymous can instead call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
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Bank Robbery
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Race against time in Liberian Armyworms plague - Food and ...
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Race against time in Liberian Armyworms plague
Moths could spell new disaster
29 January 2009, Rome - A team of international experts led by FAO is racing against time to contain a vast plague of voracious Armyworm caterpillars which has triggered a national emergency in Liberia and could spread to much of West Africa unless resolved soon.
FAO Representative in Liberia Winfred Hammond said that some 100 villages in northern and central Liberia were now affected and that six communities in neighbouring Guinea had also been struck. The millions-strong caterpillar hordes devour all vegetation in their path and pollute wells and streams with their excrements wherever they go.
In some cases they overrun homes and buildings, sending inhabitants fleeing in panic. According to Liberian authorities, the emergency involves about 500 000 villagers.
It was not immediately clear whether the plague was rapidly spreading - first reports last week said 45 villages were infested — or whether pre-existing hotspots are only now being reported.
Worse in store?
Much worse could be in store, however. Hammond noted that many of the Armyworms had now bored into the ground, out of reach of pesticides, and formed protective cocoons around themselves.
When they re-emerge, after a week to 12 days, it will be as moths. "Each moth can fly up to 1 000 kilometers — and lay 1 000 eggs," Hammond, an entomologist explained. "Potentially, that's a recipe for disaster."
One of the possibilities being investigated is to set pheromone traps against male moths. These are baited with the scent females use to lure them into mating — but which would now send them to their doom.
FAO's international team includes experts from Ghana, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
Abnormal behaviour
Meanwhile Liberia's Agriculture Ministry has deployed a set of powerful motorized pesticide sprayers that can reach the Armyworms in the foliage of the tall Dahoma trees where they tend to congregate. "That's a very strange way for them to behave," Hammond said. "Normally they like to stay much closer to the ground."
In fact he initially doubted they could be Armyworms, one of the most destructive of insect pests, but positively identified them as such in tests last week.
Hammond could offer no reason for the Armyworms' abnormal behaviour, which will be verified by experts in the field in about 3-4 days. As to why the insects have reached such large numbers, he speculated it could be climate-related.
Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who last month received FAO's Ceres Medal for Agriculture, declared a state of national emergency on Monday and appealed to the country's international partners for help.
Armyworm devouring foliage in Liberia
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Insect Disaster
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River Fire (2020)
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The River Fire was a wildfire that broke out from a lightning storm early on August 16, 2020 in Monterey County, California, south of Salinas, near River Road and Mount Toro. [2][3] Within its first day, it spread to 2,000 acres and was 10% contained; mandatory evacuations were ordered, while air and ground crews worked the fire. [4]
On August 17, the fire, three miles south of Salinas, spread to 2,800 acres and threatened 1,500 structures; four firefighters were injured. [5]
The fire had burned 4,070 acres by August 18,[3] and as of August 19, the fire had grown to over 10,000 acres. [6] By August 21, over 42,000 acres had burned and the fire was 12% contained. The nearby Carmel Fire was over 5,069 acres and five percent contained. [7]
On September 4, Cal Fire reported that both the River Fire and the Carmel Fire were 100% contained. The River Fire had burned 48,088 acres and the Carmel Fire had burned 6,905 acres; between them, they had destroyed 103 structures and damaged 20. [8]
When a strong atmospheric river winter storm came to the burned area in January, 2021, a mudslide occurred and damaged homes and barns near River Road,[9] and trapped several horses that were later rescued. [10]
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Fire
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Opinions about UK lefting EU
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The United Kingdom has officially left the European Union. The United Kingdom has finally left the European Union, after three and a half years of political turmoil. There were celebrations and protests across the country as the clock counted down to 11 pm (GMT) on Friday, bringing an end to almost half a century of Britain's membership of the EU. In a speech broadcast on Facebook an hour before Britain's exit, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the moment represented a "new dawn" for the country after three years of division, delay and parliamentary deadlock. "The most important thing to say tonight is that this is not an end but a beginning," Johnson said in a video message filmed inside his 10 Downing Street residence. "This is the moment when the dawn breaks and the curtain goes up on a new act. "It is a moment of real national renewal and change." The UK government projected a countdown clock onto the front of Downing Street in the hour leading up to 11 p.m., while Leave voters celebrated outside the Houses of Parliament with pro-Brexit politicians like Nigel Farage. Britain formally left the EU hours after Johnson and his Cabinet met in Sunderland. This city in northeast England was famously the first area of the country to declare a Leave vote at the 2016 referendum. This meeting of Johnson and his most senior ministers was designed as a public display the government's commitment to improve the lives of voters in Brexit-voting areas of the UK outside of London and the south-east of England. Meanwhile, in Brussels, there were historic scenes as EU officials took down Union Jack flags in preparation for Britain's formal departure. The UK will now enter an 11-month transition period, during which it will continue to follow EU rules and laws. This means life won't feel any different for UK citizens until January 2021, when the UK's relationship with the EU will change significantly. In the meantime, the UK government plans to negotiate a new free trade deal with the EU, as well as free trade agreements with countries like the US, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. Georgina Wright, from the Westminster-based Institute for Government think tank, told Business Insider that negotiating a new trade deal with the EU will be the "greatest and arguably most complex negotiation" of the entire Brexit process. "February 1 is the end of the beginning, it's not the beginning of the end," Wright said. "The scale of the task is massive... If you look at how long other trade negotiations have taken, it's basically a couple of years [until a full deal is agreed], especially if you're looking at something very comprehensive." Multiple senior EU figures have insisted that a deal will take much longer than the 11 months allowed by the transition period . Johnson insists that he will not extend the transition period beyond December 2020. Experts have warned that this creates a new cliff-edge at the end of the year, in which the UK could switch to costly new trading terms with the EU. Perhaps the most controversial element of the trade negotiations will be with Donald Trump's US, where issues such as food standards, pharmaceuticals, taxation on US tech firms, and vehicle tariffs will dominate. Cameron's failure to persuade the nation to stay in the EU triggered his resignation, and eventually led to his replacement by Theresa May. However, May's decision in 2017 to hold a snap general election, in which she lost the Conservative party's majority in parliament, handed legislative power to opposition MPs, and left the UK in an extended period of political deadlock. MPs rejected May's Brexit deal with the EU on numerous occasions, forcing her to delay Britain's exit twice. May resigned as prime minister and Conservative party leader in 2019, triggering a leadership contest which Johnson went on to win convincingly, promising to deliver Brexit as soon as possible. Despite Johnson's victory, MPs voted again to block a no-deal Brexit taking place in October, leading the new prime minister to seek a fresh delay to Britain's exit, pushing it back to January 2020. Johnson then called a general election in which he successfully won an 80-seat majority, ensuring that Britain would finally leave the EU.
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Withdraw from an Organization
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Philippine scientists warn of another eruption at Taal Volcano
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The highest levels of volcanic sulfur dioxide emission recorded at the volcano, which indicates possible eruption, officials said. Another eruption at the Philippines’ second-most active volcano can occur anytime soon amid “anomalously high” volcanic gas emissions, according to government scientists. More than 3,000 residents from high-risk villages around Taal Volcano in Batangas province, 66km (41 miles) south of the capital Manila, have fled their homes since Thursday, when the volcano erupted, spewing a dark plume of volcanic gas and steam in the air. Since then, several bursts of volcanic gas and steam have been generated by Taal. On Sunday, “the highest levels of volcanic sulfur dioxide gas emission was recorded … at an average of 22,628 tonnes per day, the highest-ever recorded in Taal”, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said in a bulletin. The emissions were accompanied by 26 strong and very shallow low-frequency volcanic earthquakes “associated with magmatic degassing”, it added. “These observations may indicate that an eruption similar to the July 1, 2021 event may occur anytime soon,” the institute said. Phivolcs raised the alert at the volcano to level 3, which means that there was “ongoing magmatic extrusion at the main crater that may further drive succeeding explosions”. Taal last erupted on January 12, 2020, displacing more than 376,000 people from surrounding towns. At the time, 39 people, in evacuation centres, died due to illness and accidents caused by thick ashfall, according to the provincial government. Taal has erupted 33 times since 1572. The last eruption there in January 2020 shot ash 15km (9 miles) high and spewed red-hot lava, crushing scores of homes, killing livestock and sending more than 135,000 people into shelters. Taal also has the distinction of being the only known volcano in the world within a lake on an island. It is a popular tourist destination for its picturesque crater lake. At least 2,400 displaced as Taal volcano erupts, filling the air near capital Manilla with toxic gas, officials say. About 500 people evacuated near Mount Merapi after authorities raise volcano alert to the second-highest level. Lava from a volcano erupting in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo is flowing south towards the city of Goma.
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Volcano Eruption
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Wedding company fined for coronavirus breach after hundreds attend Western Sydney wedding reception
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A Victorian man who flew from Brisbane to Hobart on flight VA702 today has tested positive to COVID-19 and has not been allowed to board a flight to Melbourne
A Watch & Act warning is in place for a fire in the northern parts of Mokine, in WA's Northam Shire. Keep up to date with ABC Emergency
NSW Police have fined a Fairfield wedding operator after "about 600 or 700 people" attended a Western Sydney wedding reception in breach of coronavirus rules.
Paradiso Receptions was slammed by NSW Police Minister David Elliott, who said it was in "blatant" breach of the orders.
The venue was only supposed to host 350 people, with one person per four square metres allowed indoors.
But the weekend wedding saw up to 700 attendees, resulting in the venue operator receiving a $5,000 fine from police.
"It has infuriated me, it's not the way I wanted to spend my Monday morning I can assure you," Mr Elliott said.
"I cannot believe that any sound person in this state in 2021 doesn't understand what their obligations are.
"This wasn't a dozen people turning up to Christmas lunch unannounced, this was twice the amount of people that were allowed to attend this venue."
Police were called to the Fairfield venue on Spencer Street at 9:30pm on Saturday evening after concerns were raised about the number of guests at a wedding.
Officers said they saw a large group of people and spoke to the 46-year-old venue operator.
He was told that "a number of guests" would need to leave, which police said he complied with. The licensee of the venue attended Fairfield police station on Sunday and was issued with the $5,000 fine.
Acting Premier John Barilaro said on Monday "no-one wins when someone cheats".
"In this scenario and this case we got an example of someone who's done it bloody wrong," he said. "He puts his own business and reputation at risk and the sector at risk, the broader economy and jobs, and worse the health of this state."
The breach comes as several thousand people in Western Sydney are in isolation following a coronavirus outbreak at a bottle shop in Berala.
The owner of Paradiso Receptions Steve Naamo spoke to the ABC last year and said he had not seen such dire business in his 30 years in the family business.
Mr Naamo said operating within the then-limit of 150 attendees did not make financial sense.
"It's not feasible … the actual cost of the operation isn't doable when there's a 150 cap for these big venues," he told the ABC in August last year.
"Customers don't want to cut down their guest list by 75 per cent then have to pay a tonne more per head."
Mr Naamo said Paradiso Receptions would normally be playing host to large multicultural weddings of more than 700 people, with lots of feverous dancing and shared kisses.
The rules for weddings have changed several times during the pandemic, as outbreaks have flared up and simmered down over the past 10 months in NSW.
In March last year, 35 coronavirus cases sprung up after a wedding was held in Stanwell Tops, on the NSW South Coast, including one pregnant woman.
On Saturday, sweeping changes to Greater Sydney's COVID-19 restrictions saw the cap for weddings reduced to 100 people from 350.
If weddings are held indoors, each person must be able to maintain four square metres space around themselves, or if it is held outside, two square metres worth of space.
If a venue can only guarantee that 50 people will have room to maintain that space, that becomes the limit. In August, Mr Naamo said he was "devastated" that people's weddings had been so affected during the pandemic.
"Our business is emotional, it's not just like buying a car — a wedding is the biggest event of their lives.
"So we're devastated we can't give them that celebration."
Paradiso Receptions was approached for comment on Monday morning.
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Organization Fine
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2019 Midwestern U.S. floods
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The Midwestern United States experienced major floods in the spring of 2019, primarily along the Missouri River and its tributaries in Nebraska, Missouri, South Dakota, Iowa, and Kansas. The Mississippi River also saw flooding, although starting later and ending earlier. The 2019 January-to-May period was the wettest on record for the U.S., with multiple severe weather outbreaks through May in the Midwest, High Plains, and South exacerbating the flooding and causing additional damage. [2][3][4] Throughout late May and early June, rain in Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri caused every site on the Mississippi River to record a top-five crest. [5] At least three people in Iowa and Nebraska died. [6]
Nearly 14 million people in the midwestern and southern states were affected by the flooding, which the New York Times called "The Great Flood of 2019". [1]
New record river levels were set in 42 different locations. [7]
Although $12 billion in aid was made "available to farmers who lost money due to the trade war" the previous year, Reuters reported that the USDA had "no program to cover the catastrophic and largely uninsured stored-crop losses from the widespread flooding. "[8]
At least 1 million acres of U.S. farmland, in nine major grain producing states flooded. [9]
On September 17, 2019, a third round of flooding along the Missouri River was considered likely, due to heavy rains of up to "four times what is normal in parts of Montana, North and South Dakota and Nebraska. "[10]
On October 28, 2019, it was predicted that the prolonged Missouri River flooding, which lasted as long as seven months in some locations, could continue all winter, with no end in sight. [11]
On December 16, 2019, the prolonged Missouri River flooding in the Kansas City district was declared officially over. [12]
From January until early March, average temperatures in the Midwest remained in the low 20 to 30 average degree Fahrenheit range, with record snowfall in many areas, including the early March blizzard, up to three feet on the ground in some areas. [13] In Nebraska, over the course of three days (March 11 – 13),[14] temperatures rose to 60 degrees Fahrenheit, combined with 1.5 inches of rain. This quickly melted the snow, and the frozen ground was not able to absorb any meaningful amount, which led to unprecedented runoff into local streams and rivers. [15] Saturated soils, combined with elevated river flow from the previous fall, led to severe, widespread flooding across the middle of the United States. [5] Many of the rivers were still frozen over with a thick layer of ice, which the powerful flow of water broke up and dislodged, creating massive chunks of ice that traveled downstream, acting like a plow. [16]
As of September 17, 2019, a third round of flooding along the Missouri River was considered likely, due to heavy rains of up to "four times what is normal in parts of Montana, North and South Dakota and Nebraska. "[10]
Illinois was affected by the flooding, and the Illinois National Guard was activated to assist with the efforts along the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers. [17][18] The Illinois National Guard was released from flood fighting duties on July 29, 2019. [19]
The river crest in Grafton was the fourth highest ever recorded. Cairo experienced over 156 days with waters above flood stage. [1]
In March, record flooding occurred on segments of the Rock and Pecatonica Rivers, and minor to moderate flooding occurred on the Fox, Des Plaines, Kankakee and Illinois Rivers. [20] The Pecatonica River, which has flooded seven times since May 2017, flooded again in October, along with other Chicago area rivers including the Fox River and the Rock River. [21][22] Freeport is seeking funding to buy out flood-prone homes. [21]
Iowa was also affected by heavy rains and flooding. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed an emergency disaster proclamation March 14. [23] One man was killed in Iowa. [24]
Parts of all nine state parks were closed. [23] Standing water from the spring floods was still present near Iowa roads in mid September. [25][26]
Governor Reynolds estimated the damage at $1.6 billion, a state record. Reynolds asked the president to declare a disaster in 67 counties. [27][28]
A website was established, 2019 Iowa Floods, to help residents apply for assistance, report hazards, check on levee and road status, and access areas with closed roads. Western Iowa suffered severe impacts, especially in the Missouri River Valley south of Council Bluffs. There, at least 30 levee failures flooded towns and highways. [29]
In Hamburg, two-thirds of the town was underwater when the bomb cyclone hit. [30] The town lost sewage and gas services, according to city officials. [31] The town's levee, which was in need of repair, was breached. Residents had been unable to raise the $5 million for necessary repairs before the storm, despite releasing a 2012 flash mob YouTube video of residents dancing "on Main Street, singing "Levee. Levee. Save us from the river." to the tune of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary. "[1][32]
Floodwaters damaged the water treatment plant in Glenwood. [33] On April 5, the city of Glenwood was still "trucking in more than 6,000-gallon tanks of water to provide the roughly 275,000 gallons its residents ... [were] using each day. "[34]
On April 11, hundreds of homes in Fremont County were still evacuated, and road closures remained in place. [35] Satellite images from the Weather Channel showed the town of Bartlett almost completely underwater. [36] Fremont County farmers lost an estimated "390,000 bushels of stored soybeans and about 1.2 million bushels of stored corn. "[37]
One homeowner in McPaul had to wait 180 days for floodwater to drain; the home flooded again five days later. The McPaul exit off of Interstate 29 was still closed in early October, and standing water was visible. [32]
43% of flooded homeowners in Pacific Junction, other parts of rural Mills County, and Hamburg expressed interest in federal buyouts, which have a partial funding match from the Iowa Flood Mitigation Board.
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Floods
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Noar Linhas Aéreas Flight 4896 crash
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On 13 July 2011, Noar Linhas Aéreas Flight 4896, a Let L-410 Turbolet passenger aircraft on a domestic service from Recife to Mossoró, Brazil, crashed shortly after take-off in the Boa Viagem neighbourhood of Recife, after suffering an engine failure. All 16 people on board were killed. [1]
The aircraft took off from Recife Airport's runway 18 at 06:50 local time (09:50 UTC) bound for Augusto Severo International Airport, Natal and then Mossoró Airport, its final destination. Seconds after lift-off, the left engine lost power, and a minute later the crew issued a mayday call, requesting to return immediately to the airport. [2]
The Turbolet climbed to 400 ft while turning to position itself for a landing on the opposite runway 36, but it subsequently started losing altitude. At 06:54, shortly after the crew announced their intention to attempt an emergency landing on the beach, the aircraft stalled and crashed into an open area of Boa Viagem, between Visconde de Jequitinhonha and Boa Viagem Avenue, approximately 2 km (1.2 mi) from the end of the runway. An intense post-impact fire erupted, consuming most of the wreckage. [3] Both pilots and all fourteen passengers were killed. The accident aircraft was Let L-410UVP-E20 with registration PR-NOB, built in 2010 as c/n 2722. [4] It was the second purchased by Noar Linhas Aéreas, entering service in June 2010. [5]
The L-410 is powered by two M601 turboprop engines produced by Czech manufacturer Walter. The M601 is a free-turbine turboshaft, where the propeller is driven by a power turbine that is unconnected to the gas generator turbine (sometimes called compressor turbine). An investigation into the accident was opened by the CENIPA (Centro de Investigação e Prevenção de Accidentes Aeronáuticos – Air Accidents Investigation and Prevention Center). [3]
In July 2013, the CENIPA published its final report. It found that the left engine failed because a blade in the gas generator turbine had broken off shortly after the airplane lifted off the runway, causing extensive damage to the engine and loss of power. The failure was caused by metal fatigue originating underneath the surface of the blade. A fluorescent penetrant inspection carried out during maintenance six months before the accident had not revealed any abnormality. [6]
While twin-engine aircraft are normally capable of flying with one engine inoperative, the report identified several factors that prevented the Turbolet from maintaining altitude and speed, including a 130 kg (290 lb) exceedance in the maximum take-off weight resulting from an error in the software used by the flight dispatcher, the insufficient application of right rudder by the pilot flying, and the incomplete execution of the recommended emergency procedure for engine failure at take-off. [6]
The report highlighted deficiencies in Noar's training programme for the L-410 aircraft with regard to engine failures at take-off, and also discrepancies between different versions of the aircraft checklists that were available to flight crews. The CENIPA made several safety recommendations to Noar and Let to address such issues, and also to GE Aviation, the owner of engine manufacturer Walter, to "reevaluate the method utilized for the exam of the blades. "[6]
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Air crash
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Mid-Shore, Southern Maryland SCORE chapters to merge
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ANNAPOLIS — SCORE, a nonprofit organization providing free volunteer experienced mentors to small businesses, announces the merger of two of its Maryland chapters — Mid-Shore and Southern Maryland chapters — to better serve small businesses on both sides of the Chesapeake Bay. The Mid-Shore SCORE chapter, now covering Talbot, Caroline, Dorchester, Somerset, Wicomico and Worcester counties, and the SCORE Southern Maryland chapter, covering Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s counties will be combined into one larger chapter, effective Oct. 1. The larger resulting chapter will be called SCORE Southern Maryland and will be headquartered in Annapolis. The move to combine the two chapters provides a broader and deeper base of experienced business mentors to attend to the ever-increasing demand by new, growing or pandemic-impacted small businesses with needs specific to this region of Maryland, the organization said in a news release. With this change, an Anne Arundel-based SCORE client starting an urban farm business will now benefit from the expertise of SCORE mentors on the agriculture-rich Eastern Shore. Plus, as technology, such as Zoom and Google Meets, has allowed SCORE to provide vital and virtual mentoring services and workshops to its business clients across these Maryland counties from the outset of the pandemic through today, the merging of these two chapters focuses its limited resources on client services, and not duplicative administrative expenses. Bruce Sanders, current chapter chair of SCORE Southern Maryland, welcomes the merger: “The combined forces of our larger organization will greatly benefit our small business clients.”
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Organization Merge
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2020 was the worst year for economic growth since World War II
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Overall, the economy was surprisingly resilient in the second half of the year, given the falloff at the start of the public health crisis, according to data released Thursday from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Yet, the 1 percent growth in the fourth quarter signaled a faltering recovery and a long road ahead, with 9.8 million jobs still missing and 23.8 million adults struggling to feed their families. “2020 has no precedent in modern economic history,” said David Wilcox, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and a former director of the domestic economics division at the Federal Reserve. “The influenza of 1918 and 1919 predates our modern system of economic statistics, and since World War II, there’s never been a contraction that even remotely approached the severity and the breadth of the initial collapse in 2020.” It’s the first time the economy has contracted for the year since 2009, when gross domestic product shrank by 2.5 percent during the depths of the Great Recession. The next-worst plunge was 1946, when the economy shrank by 11.6 percent as the nation demobilized from its wartime footing. Consumer spending in the final three months of the year slowed down in all 15 categories tracked by the BEA, as the sectors that powered third-quarter growth faltered. Americans spent less on restaurants and hotels, a sector that had been a surprising third-quarter bright spot, and the growth of spending on motor vehicles and health care slowed after a steep third-quarter acceleration. The recession may be over — technically “There has been a broad recovery but, economically speaking, we’re not out of the woods yet,” said Ben Herzon, executive director at IHS Markit. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) seized on the new GDP figures in a speech on the Senate floor, arguing that they make the case for passing a big new relief bill. Story continues below advertisement “Given these economic numbers, the need to act big and bold is urgent,” Schumer said. “Given the fact that the GDP sunk by 3.5 percent last year, we need recovery and rescue quickly.” President Biden has proposed a $1.9 trillion economic relief package with money for individual Americans and cities and states, as well as coronavirus testing and vaccines, among other provisions. Schumer reiterated Thursday that he intends to take steps to move the package forward next week, with or without GOP support. Many Republicans say the proposal is too costly and unnecessary on top of about $4 trillion in relief that Congress already passed, including $900 billion in December. The economy is getting even worse for Americans with a high school diploma or less education Even as the economy shed jobs like never before in 2020, personal income grew significantly, BEA data shows, largely because of $1,200 stimulus checks and enhanced unemployment benefits provided by the Cares Act. Disposable personal income grew faster for lower-income households than it did for the average household, according to an analysis published Thursday by Jason Furman, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute and a former top economist in the Obama administration, and Wilson Powell III of the Harvard Kennedy School. Advertisement Story continues below advertisement However, those gains were front-loaded and have begun to erode. Federal stimulus drove personal income to record highs in the late spring, but the levels fell off significantly in the second half of the year as relief programs under the Cares Act wound down or expired. Congress also approved a $900 billion stimulus package last month, which sent Americans new $600 stimulus checks and extended unemployment benefits by as much as $300 a week through mid-March. “The package enacted at the end of December was completely welcome, but we’re clearly seeing that it took some time to roll out and get that aid to folks,” said Wendy Edelberg, director of the Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution and former chief economist at the Congressional Budget Office. This is the last GDP report from President Donald Trump’s tenure. Until the pandemic, Trump was on track for an economic record that put him near the middle of the pack among recent presidents. But the coronavirus crisis ensured that Trump oversaw the slowest economic growth of any president in the period since World War II. Economic chaos reigned in 2020. In the second quarter, gross domestic product contracted at the fastest quarterly rate ever for the United States, as the pandemic walloped workers and businesses and kept millions from leaving their homes. Then, in the third quarter, GDP soared at a record pace as parts of the economy reopened and businesses brought workers back onto their payrolls. Governors’ shutdowns did not cause the pandemic jobs crisis The nascent economic recovery was propelled by a rebound of sales of automobiles and household goods such as furniture, and in renovations and supplies for home offices. Consumer spending — which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity — used to be driven by an ever-growing demand for services , including leisure and hospitality, and restaurants and bars. But as the pandemic warped tried-and-true shopping habits, economists watched consumers move their spending from services to goods. Purchases of computers, home office equipment and fire pits quickly overtook those of hotel rooms and movie tickets. In fact, 2020 was the best year ever for Bedford Fields Home & Garden Center in the forested hills of Bedford, a suburb of Manchester, N.H. Advertisement Story continues below advertisement When the pandemic hit, “literally everybody became gardeners,” office manager Tracey Auger said. The GDP category that includes nurseries and garden-supply stores was one of the fastest-growing in 2020. Federal Reserve Chair Powell says ‘nothing more important’ to economy than vaccinating Americans “So many people were home, and we were deemed essential and one of the few places people could go to shop,” Auger said. “They needed somewhere to go, a project to do.” Auger, who has worked at Bedford Fields for nine years, said the shop has based its 2021 orders on the assumption that this year will be somewhere between a normal year, like 2019, and the housebound plant madness of 2020. Bedford Fields has doubled its seed order for 2021 and has secured a full order of plants; after months of shortages, growers have finally caught up to surging demand. Story continues below advertisement For every business that has thrived in the era of social distancing, though, dozens of others have continued to suffer as customers stay home and governments restrict activity at high-contact businesses such as bars, restaurants and event centers. Advertisement At a news conference Wednesday, Powell said the pace of the recovery in economic activity and employment has moderated in recent months, with service-sector workers — mainly women and people of color — struggling to regain a foothold in the workforce. “That is really the main thing about the economy, is getting the pandemic under control, getting everyone vaccinated, getting people wearing masks and all that,” Powell said. “That’s the single most important economic growth policy that we can have.” The businesses that have been hit hardest disproportionately employ women, people of color and workers without college educations. Americans in those groups are suffering. Economists call it a K-shaped recovery: The top end of the economy continues to improve, even as lower earners fall further behind. Constance Hunter, chief economist at KPMG, pointed to different slices of the economy that have their own versions of the K-shaped recovery. Among corporations, tech companies such as Zoom and Netflix are soaring. Airlines, less so. Advertisement For workers, Hunter said that among Americans who can work from home, the unemployment rate is 3.9 percent. The rate is 8.5 percent for people who have to report to a job site. Story continues below advertisement “In general, the GDP number is informative about the economy,” Hunter said. But “because of this corporate K, a household K, a geographic K, we have to dig under the hood in a different way.” In the fourth quarter of 2020, spending from state and local governments fell 2.5 percent from the same quarter the previous year, adjusted for inflation. That’s the sharpest decrease since mid-2012, and mirrored the toll from the 2008-2009 financial crisis. In the years after the Great Recession, economists pointed to the slow return of public-sector jobs as a drag on the broader recovery. The coronavirus crisis has once again spurred many left-leaning economists and policymakers to push for continued aid to state and local governments. Advertisement Story continues below advertisement “I just want us to learn the lessons from the 2008-2009 Great Recession,” said Lisa Cook, an economist at Michigan State University. “With greater funding for state and local governments, [a relief package] will stem the adverse affects of what we’re seeing with respect to the virus.” Cristal Farrington, 48, was laid off in May after more than two decades of climbing the corporate ladder at New York City firms that buy and distribute specialty foods and restaurant equipment. Farrington is looking for whatever work she can get but said she was not optimistic that business would pick up in 2021, because the timelines for vaccine rollout and reopening remain fuzzy. And even if things turn around, it will be years before Black women like her are welcomed back into the workforce, she said. “People of color, we’ve always been on the edge, teetering,” Farrington said. “Because we always know we’re going to be the first ones let go and the last ones hired.” Advertisement Economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal predict a strong rebound in 2021, with the economy growing by 4.3 percent. That would be the best year since the late 1990s, as high earners unleash the billions they have saved during the pandemic. One bright spot in 2020 is that the personal saving rate hit the highest on record, and some businesses are betting that — combined with a vaccine rollout, the December stimulus and any future Biden administration stimulus — all that saving will power a swift rebound. The online review site Yelp this week reported that more businesses reopened in December than in any month since June. It also augurs well for this year that, in December, interest in wedding planning soared 22 percent above its 2019 level — a sign of hope for the battered live-events industry.
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Financial Crisis
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State and federal agencies help investigate Barrington High School shooting threat
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BARRINGTON — State and federal authorities are helping the Barrington police investigate a threat of violence at the high school.
In a letter to parents, Supt. Michael Messore wrote that no additional threats have been reported and that student attendance has increased significantly since Tuesday.
"The resources available to the Barrington Police Department have now expanded to include specialists in situations like this at the R.I. State Police and federal agencies, as well," Messore wrote. "These agencies continue to support our safety measures, and we are making progress in the investigation."
He did not name the federal agency or agencies involved.
In response to a Change.org petition calling for the high school to shift to remote learning, Messore said Thursday, "I would never let anyone in a school building if I didn't feel it was safe."
He said local and state police are fully investigating various leads but haven't identified a suspect yet.
He confirmed that the high school has a strong police presence, that classroom doors remain locked and that they are limiting the number of students in hallways at any given time.
He said it is too early to discuss whether the school will be open on Dec. 21, the day that the threat is supposed to happen, adding that his crisis team is meeting Friday to discuss next steps.
More: Coventry police charge a student in connection with 4-hour high-school lockdown
Student reaction was mixed, with some saying the school is doing a good job of keeping them safe while others think more should be done.
"They haven't kept students informed," said Lilly Cregan, a sophomore. "My safety has been left up to me. We definitely should be going to school online next week."
But Charles Potter, a ninth-grader, said the school system is handling the situation well.
"They've brought in cops," he said. "They're doing a great job. Some kids are staying home though."
A staff person, who declined to be identified, said she felt safe: "I'm not worried."
Counseling is available to students, staff or family, Messore said.
"The Barrington police and school administration are still actively investigating this incident," Messore said. "Meanwhile, our students, teachers, staff and parents are our biggest asset in preventing an incident from actually taking place. Please continue to speak with your children and share any information with us, no matter how minor it may seem. At the core of violence is trauma and mental health. Students should trust that coming forward with information in confidence will ensure that their classmate or friend can get help."
He encouraged anyone with information to call the Barrington police at (401) 437-3935, or the School Department at (401) 245-5000, ext. 1.
Information can be shared anonymously to the Barrington Police on an unrecorded line or through CrisisGo Barrington Public Schools Anonymous Tip Line.
Threat of a shooting in Barrington High School
On Dec. 13, dozens of students texted their parents to inform them of a school shooting threat. Someone had written in a girls bathroom stall: "I am shooting up the school on 12/21/21 with my dads [sic] pistol."
Students have launched a change.org petition calling for the school to move all classes online or cancel them until the person who wrote the threat is identified and no longer attending the school.
These students also called for a clear screening plan to prevent anyone from carrying weapons onto school premises.
"Students should feel safe in their classrooms, but this administration's barren response has left everyone on edge," the petition said. "If we feel that we are in danger by attending school, we cannot learn. For the sake of the physical, mental, emotional, and academic well-being of all Barrington students, the administration must take action."
Barrington's police chief, Michael Correia, on Monday evening called on all residents to secure their guns as his department investigated the threat.
Correia promised an appropriate presence at the high school in the days to come "to maintain a safe school environment for students and teachers."
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Famous Person - Commit Crime - Investigate
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1967 Buffalo riot
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The 1967 Buffalo riot was one of 159 race riots that swept cities in the United States during the "Long Hot Summer of 1967". This riot occurred on the East Side of Buffalo, New York, from June 26 to July 1, 1967. On the afternoon of June 27, 1967, small groups of African American teenagers cruised the neighborhood of William Street and Jefferson Avenue breaking car and store windows. By night nearly 200 riot-protected police were summoned, and a violent encounter ensued.
Many African Americans, three policemen and one fire fighter were injured. Although the riot dispersed that night, it began again the next afternoon with fires set, cars over-turned, and stores looted, many of them having the words "soul brother" written on them. This time 400 police were summoned. Forty black people were injured, nearly half from bullet wounds.
The riots virtually shut down the city. During the night of June 28, over 40 people were hurt, 14 with gunshot wounds. On June 30, Jackie Robinson, then serving as Governor Nelson Rockefeller's Special Assistant for Urban Affairs, met with Mayor Frank Sedita about the riots. It was the first move by the Governor to intervene in the violence.
On November 10, 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. visited Buffalo and in a speech titled "The Future of Integration" at Kleinhans Music Hall before about 2,500 persons sponsored by the Graduate Student Association at the University at Buffalo proclaimed: "We are moving toward the day when we will judge a man by his character and ability instead of by the color of his skin. "
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Riot
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These 40 Celebrity Couples Eloped
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These famous pairs just couldn't wait to say "I do." Whether it was for privacy reasons, a rush of spontaneity or just plain not wanting to plan a wedding, over the years a number of famous couples have eloped. They ditched the wedding frenzy and revealed their secret wedding ceremonies to the world after the fact. From courthouse vows to tropical nuptials, here are some of our favorite celebrity elopements. The Hollywood actors held a press conference to announce their nuptials after they eloped in 1939. It was Carole Lombard's second marriage and Clark Gable's third. They were happily married until the actress's tragic death in a plane crash in 1942. Rita Hayworth look overjoyed receiving her marriage license in Santa Monica, California with Orson Welles. For her second wedding, the bride wore a simple suit and veiled hat with a fan brooch on her lapel. The press flooded San Francisco's courthouse when news traveled that film star Marilyn Monroe and famous baseball player Joe DiMaggio were eloping in a civil ceremony. Sadly, they were married for less than a year. Henry Fonda was introduced to Italian baroness Afdera Franchetti while he was filming War and Peace in Italy. Not long after meeting, they got married in Fonda's New York apartment. Franchetti was Henry's fourth wife. Hollywood had a major celebrity scandal on their hands when Elizabeth Taylor and Eddie Fisher eloped in Las Vegas in 1959. The news of their affair was already in the tabloids, as Taylor was good friends with Fisher's wife, Debbie Reynolds. The couple tied the knot on the same day his divorce papers came through. For her second marriage, Brigitte Bardot skipped the wedding gown and big church ceremony. Instead, the actress wore a pink gingham dress for her civil ceremony at city hall with French actor Jacques Charrier in Louveciennes, France. Despite a nearly 30-year age difference, Frank Sinatra and Mia Farrow wed on July 19, 1966. They got married in a small ceremony at The Sands Hotel in Las Vegas and had an intimate reception at Bill Goetz's nearby estate afterward. Brigitte Bardot and her third husband, German businessman Gunter Sachs, walk through the airport after eloping in Las Vegas in 1966 a few weeks after they met. They were married for three years. Friends of the newly-married couple throw rice at actress Jane Fonda and French director Roger Vadim, as they exit town hall in Saint-Ouen Marchefroy, France. The couple got married by a judge in a civil ceremony. Raquel Welch wore a white croquet sun dress to the courthouse in Paris to marry American film producer Patrick Curtis. The elopement was flooded with photographers who spotted the couple, ruining any chance of keeping it a secret. While their first wedding in 1957 was beautiful, the union ended in divorce. Both parties moved on, with Wood marrying and having a child with Richard Gregson. But in 1972, Natalie Wood and Robert Wagner rekindled their relationship and remarried in a small ceremony on a 55-foot yacht. Melanie Griffith met Don Johnson when she was only 14 years old, but it wasn't until she turned 18 that Don proposed. "Melanie called at about 4 or 5 in the morning. We professed undying love and flew to Las Vegas and got married," Don told PEOPLE. They divorced that same year, but remarried in 1989 and were together until 1996. Although their relationship was highly publicized, their elopement when they married for a second time was a low-key affair. The couple said "I do" (again) in an outdoor ceremony in Botswana with just an official and a witness joining them. After just three months of dating, Demi Moore and Bruce Willis called a reverend from Las Vegas's Little White Chapel and said "I do" in a suite at the Golden Nugget hotel. The couple had three daughters together, but split in 2000. The actors started out as an on-screen couple on All My Children, which also blossomed off-screen. Their TV characters got married in an elaborate church ceremony, but Mark Consuelos and Kelly Ripa eloped in Las Vegas. "Right before we got married, we broke up," Kelly revealed in a Comments by Celebs podcast. "We broke up and we got back together the day before we went off and eloped." Before she was famous, the reality star eloped in Las Vegas at 19 with music producer Damon Thomas. However, it turns out she wasn't exactly in the right state of mind. "I did ecstasy once, and I got married," Kim Kardashian told her family on Keeping Up With the Kardashians. After a whirlwind two month relationship, Billy Bob Thornton and Angelina Jolie shocked the world by eloping in Las Vegas in 2000. The couple — who first met on the set of Pushing Tin — kept it casual, opting for blue jeans and t-shirts. Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin announced that they were expecting on December 3, and news of their elopement leaked just a few days later after they obtained a marriage license from the Santa Barbara courthouse. The secret wedding didn't include any family or friends and the couple honeymooned in Mexico shortly after. Britney Spears was America's sweetheart when news broke that she eloped with her childhood friend, Jason Alexander, on a New Year's trip to Las Vegas in 2004. "She just came out and asked me," Alexander told ABC News. "She was like, 'Well, let's get married.' And I was like, 'Sure. You know, let's do this.'" Britney annulled the marriage, stating she "lacked understanding of her actions, to the extent that she was incapable of agreeing to the marriage." When Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott decided to say "I do," they jetted off to Fiji for their big moment. Tori and Dean, who were both married when they met and became involved, got hitched on a private island a year after meeting. Jack Black and his wife Tanya Haden first met in high school and later eloped in Big Sur, California in 2006. The notoriously private couple haven't divulged any major details about their big day, but the bride's father shared with PEOPLE that, "They love each other very much. We're thrilled." Mel B and her longtime friend, movie producer Stephen Belafonte, eloped in Las Vegas in 2007. The couple filed for their marriage license in Las Vegas county, but the whereabouts of their ceremony weren't disclosed. Actress Jessica Alba and film producer Cash Warren eloped when she was nine months pregnant at the courthouse. In celebration of their 11th wedding anniversary, Cash shared details on Instagram: "It wasn't the dream wedding you deserved, in fact, it was laughably awkward. Standing under an arch of dusty plastic flowers in the courthouse chapel, we held hands and said I Do. No friends or family in attendance ... just you, me and the courthouse employee who served as our witness." Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Reynolds were one of Hollywood's most elusive couples when they began dating in 2007. So, naturally, when they tied the knot, they opted for an elopement in Ryan's native Canada. The ceremony was reportedly held at a wilderness retreat outside of Vancouver. While at Mariah Carey's mansion in the Bahamas, the pop star and Nick Cannon made things official in a surprise wedding. "We only told people who had to know. [To everyone else] we said we were [going to the Bahamas] for the video. If we brought a million people with us, it would’ve been obvious we weren’t shooting a video," Mariah told PEOPLE. "We got married at sunset on the beach. We were trying to get the really golden light. The whole wedding was really beautiful and sweet. Being there with loved ones under the sky ... it was a spiritual moment." After meeting on a blind date, Jason Biggs and Jenny Mollen were smitten with one another. They eloped in Los Angeles and three months later had a small ceremony in Napa Valley with friends and family. "The newlyweds wanted to take in this moment without any distractions," the couple's publicist, Lisa Jammal, shared in a statement about their elopement. Country singer Jewel wrangled herself a perfect match when she met professional rodeo rider Ty Murray. After 10 years together, they eloped in the Bahamas — just the two of them. "To pull off the wedding quietly made it magical," Jewel told PEOPLE. The bride wore a Monique Lhuillier, while Murray kept it simple in jeans and cowboy boots. "It felt like we were the only ones in the world," Ty said. Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen got married in a church ceremony with only their parents in attendance, which they followed with a home reception. "We went back to the house and I barbecued aged New York strips. We had champagne, a cake, some ice cream. It was a great night. I think you always have this idea that weddings need to be 200 people and you invite everybody, and I'm all for it if people want to do that, but I think there was really something special about just having our parents there," Tom told GQ. While Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem have always been a tight-lipped couple, their simple elopement takes the cake for secret Hollywood weddings. In 2010, in front of only their family, the couple made it official at their friend's home in the Bahamas. Leave it to Harrison Ford to surprise even his guests at his wedding ceremony. In 2010, the Indiana Jones star and his longtime girlfriend, Calista Flockhart, pulled off an elaborate elopement that gathered their nearest and dearest without them even knowing it was a wedding. The couple chose the New Mexico governor's mansion for their venue.
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Famous Person - Marriage
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NASA plans to launch a CubeSat to test a special orbit around the Moon
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Later this year, NASA plans to launch a CubeSat to test a special orbit around the Moon to verify its characteristics in advance of sending the Lunar Gateway there as early as 2024 . The 12-unit CubeSat is called “ Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment ,” or CAPSTONE, and it is spacecraft designed to test the calculated orbital stability of a “near-rectilinear halo orbit” for the Lunar Gateway outpost, which is expected to be part of NASA’s Artemis program. NASA has contracted Rocket Lab to launch CAPSTONE aboard an Electron rocket from Wallops Island, Virginia, in 2021. The rocket will send the 55-pound (25-kilogram) CubeSat into an initial Earth orbit. Rocket Lab’s Photon satellite bus. From there, Rocket Lab’s Photon satellite bus, which CAPSTONE will be attached to during its initial journey to the Moon, is expected to use its propulsion systems to gradually raise their orbit over a three-month period before ultimately adding enough energy for a trans-lunar injection. After detaching from Photon, CAPSTONE will use its own propulsion to navigate into the elliptical near-rectilinear halo orbit, putting it on a trajectory to circle the Moon every seven days. It’ll come as close as 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) above one lunar pole to roughly 43,500 miles (70,000 kilometers) above the other. This halo-shaped orbit, with its elongated shape and pin-point balance between the gravity of Earth and the Moon, has a completely unobstructed view of Earth at all times and can support communications to the lunar south pole, the planned destination of Artemis astronauts. CAPSTONE is planned to be the first CubeSat to fly in cislunar space — the orbital space near and around the Moon — and the first spacecraft to fly in this particular halo orbit. The mission is also expected to demonstrate an innovative spacecraft-to-spacecraft navigation solution at the Moon to a near-rectilinear halo orbit by measuring its position relative to NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Overall, its mission is to help minimize any risks for future spacecraft destined for this orbit. Using innovative navigation technology, it will orbit the prescribed area around the moon for a minimum of six months to learn the characteristics and specific dynamics of the orbit. This particular orbit offers stability for long-term missions like the Lunar Gateway and requires little energy to maintain, making it an ideal staging area for missions to the Moon and beyond for humans . Video courtesy of Orbital Velocity Theresa Cross Theresa Cross grew up on the Space Coast. It’s only natural that she would develop a passion for anything “Space” and its exploration. During these formative years, she also discovered that she possessed a talent and love for defining the unique quirks and intricacies that exist in mankind, nature, and machines. Hailing from a family of photographers—including her father and her son, Theresa herself started documenting her world through pictures at a very early age. As an adult, she now exhibits an innate photographic ability to combine what appeals to her heart and her love of technology to deliver a diversified approach to her work and artistic presentations. Theresa has a background in water chemistry, fluid dynamics, and industrial utility.
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New achievements in aerospace
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Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 crash
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Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 was a Boeing 737-7H4 that experienced a contained engine failure in the left CFM56-7B engine after departing from New York–LaGuardia Airport en route to Dallas Love Field on April 17, 2018. The engine cowl was broken in the failure and cowl fragments damaged the fuselage, causing explosive depressurization of the aircraft after damaging a cabin window. Other fragments caused damage to the wing. The crew conducted an emergency descent and diverted to Philadelphia International Airport. One passenger was partially ejected from the aircraft and later died. Eight other passengers received minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. [2][3][4]
This accident was very similar to an accident suffered 20 months earlier by Southwest Airlines Flight 3472 flying the same aircraft type with the same engine type. After that accident, the engine manufacturer, CFM, issued a service directive calling for ultrasonic inspections of the turbine fan blades with certain serial numbers, service cycles or service time. Southwest did not perform the inspection on this engine because it was not within the parameters specified by the directive. [2]
This was the first fatal airline accident involving a U.S. passenger carrier since the crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407 in February 2009 and the first aircraft accident involving Southwest Airlines that resulted in the death of a passenger. Flight 1380 was a regularly scheduled passenger flight from New York LaGuardia Airport to Dallas Love Field. [3] The aircraft was a Boeing 737-7H4[a] with the registration N772SW, in service with Southwest Airlines since its manufacture in 2000. [5] It was powered by CFM56-7B engines. [2][3]
Tammie Jo Shults, aged 56, a former United States Navy fighter pilot, was the captain of the flight. [6] Darren Lee Ellisor, aged 44, a former United States Air Force (1997-2007) pilot with experience in the Boeing E-3 Sentry and a veteran in the Iraq War,[7] was the first officer. [8] Captain Shults had been with Southwest Airlines since 1994 and had logged a total 11,715 flight hours, including 10,513 hours on the Boeing 737. First Officer Ellisor had been with the airline since 2008 and had 9,508 flight hours, with 6,927 hours on the Boeing 737. [2]:7–9 Five crew members and one hundred forty-four passengers were on board. [2][3]
At 11:03 am Eastern Daylight Time, the aircraft was flying at 32,000 feet (9,800 m) and climbing when the left engine failed. As a result, most of the engine inlet and parts of the cowling broke off. Fragments from the inlet and cowling struck the wing and fuselage and broke a window at row 14 in the passenger compartment, which caused rapid decompression of the aircraft. The flight crew conducted an emergency descent of the aircraft and diverted it to Philadelphia International Airport (PHL). One passenger sitting next to the broken window suffered fatal injuries and eight passengers sustained minor injuries. [3]
The flight crew stated that the departure and climb from LaGuardia were normal, with no indications of any problems; the first officer was flying and the captain was monitoring. They reported that the aircraft yawed and set off several cockpit emergency alarms; a "gray puff of smoke" appeared and the aircraft's cabin suddenly lost air pressure. The flight crew donned their emergency oxygen masks and the first officer began the emergency descent. The flight data recorder (FDR) showed that the left engine's performance parameters all dropped simultaneously, vibration became severe and within five seconds the cabin altitude alert activated. The FDR also showed that the aircraft rolled left by about 40° before the flight crew was able to counter the roll. The flight crew reported that the aircraft was very difficult to control throughout the remainder of the flight because of the extensive damage. The captain took over flying the plane and the first officer carried out the emergency checklist. The captain asked the air traffic controller for a course diversion. She initially requested a course to the nearest airport, but then decided that the airport in Philadelphia was best equipped for this aircraft's emergency. The controller quickly provided vectors to PHL. The flight crew reported initial communications difficulties because of the loud noises, distraction and wearing oxygen masks, but as the aircraft descended, communications improved. The captain initially planned on a long final approach to make sure the crew completed all the emergency checklists. Upon learning of the passengers' injuries, however, she decided to speed up the approach and expedite landing. [3]
Three flight attendants were assigned to the flight and another Southwest Airlines employee was a passenger. All four reported that they heard a loud sound and felt severe vibration. The oxygen masks automatically deployed in the cabin. The flight attendants retrieved portable oxygen bottles and began moving through the cabin to assist passengers with their oxygen masks. As they moved toward the midcabin, they found a passenger in row 14 blown part way out the broken window; with the help of two passengers, flight attendants pulled the victim inside the aircraft[3] and other passengers performed emergency cardiopulmonary resuscitation. [9] The passenger died after being admitted to a local hospital for treatment. [10]
The participants in the investigation included the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB),[11] the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Boeing, Southwest Airlines, GE Aviation, the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, the Southwest Airlines Pilots’ Association, the Transport Workers Union of America and UTC Aerospace Systems. [3] Because the manufacturer of the failed engine (CFM) is a US-French joint venture, the French Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety also contributed investigators. [12] Technical teams from CFM assisted with the investigation. [13] The NTSB expected the investigation to take 12 to 15 months. [14]
NTSB investigators analyzed a recording of the air traffic radar plots and observed that the radar had shown debris falling from the aircraft and used wind data to predict where ground searchers could find it. [15] Parts from the engine's nacelle were found in the predicted area at several locations near the town of Bernville, Berks County, Pennsylvania,[1] 60 miles (100 km; 50 nmi) northwest of Philadelphia. [16][17]
On April 20, 2018, CFM issued Service Bulletin 72-1033, applicable to the CFM56-7B-series engine,[3][18] and on the same day, the FAA issued emergency airworthiness directive (EAD) 2018-09-51[19][20] based on it.
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Air crash
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